Time Makes all the Difference
by jlf44
Summary: Age 22, Bella moves to Forks to live with Charlie following the death of her mother. How much of a difference can four years make?
1. Forks

**The stuff you need to know before you begin reading…****  
>Bella <strong>didn't move to Forks during junior year. She stayed in Phoenix to finish high school, then went to culinary school in Arizona for four years. Just after Bella graduated, Renee and Phil were killed in a car crash.**  
>The Wolf Pack <strong>are as they were in Stephenie Meyer's novels. They are all wolves, but are now thinking about trying to stop phasing as the Cullens have been gone for a few months and promised not to return. The imprints are all the same as in Meyer's novels, but I have added imprints for Embry and Seth.  
><strong><br>The story begins a month after the deaths of Renee and Phil. Bella is moving to Forks to stay with Charlie for a while because she doesn't want to be alone, until she figures out her next steps.**

**Please review and let me know what you think! Hope you enjoy it!**

**All characters are owned by Stephenie Meyer, aside from the few I have added :)**

**CHAPTER ONE**

**BELLA POV**

I stepped into Charlie's house in Forks and took a quick look around. Not a lot had changed during the years I'd been away. The kitchen cupboards were the same sunshine yellow thanks to Renee, and my bedroom still looked the same as it had since I was born. Thankfully, Charlie had upgraded my bed to a double size and had added a desk, which I placed my laptop onto after throwing my bags onto the new bed.

It was pretty depressing really: I had been alive for 22 years and yet my worldly possessions could all fit into two sports bags. I had given all of Renee's furniture and clothes to charity and sold her house as quickly as I could; otherwise I would have dwelled in the grief of losing her and would never have moved on with my life.

So here I was, back in the place I had avoided at all costs since I was 12, with no idea what I should do next. Nothing about Forks had appealed to me back then, and I was pretty sure that nothing would appeal to me now. But, I didn't have much choice. Charlie was my last living relative and I was really looking forward to spending some time with him, no matter how much I hated his cold, wet hometown.

It was the middle of the afternoon, but the sky was grey and everything outside was damp. I unpacked my clothes and added a few personal touches to my room, which took all of ten minutes. I then seriously considered just going to bed, but I figured I should really go down to see Charlie seeing as he had taken the day off work to help me get settled in. As chief of police, and being a single man, I knew Charlie spent a lot of time at work, so taking a day off had to be a big deal to him. With that in mind, I made my way downstairs to where Charlie was, sitting in a recliner watching baseball.

"Oh, hey kiddo," he greeted me as I sat down on the sofa. "You all unpacked?"

"Um, yeah. Didn't really have much to unpack."

"Yeah, I noticed. You travel light for a girl."

We sat in silence for a few minutes, and I focused on the TV screen while Charlie sipped his beer. I'd never really gotten into sports what with my lack of coordination, so I was glad when Charlie spoke up again.

"I almost forgot, I've got you a surprise Bells. Should be here soon."

I flinched at his words. Firstly because I hated surprises, and secondly because I hated people buying me things. "You didn't have to do that, dad."

"Sure I did. I know you hate me getting you gifts but, I'm sure you'll like it when you see it."

I didn't reply. _I_ was pretty sure I _wouldn't _like it, but I wasn't about to tell him that. We settled into another silence then, watching the TV. It wasn't uncomfortable, which was the thing I liked about Charlie. He was a man of few words, which was probably where I got it from.

The silence was interrupted a while later by the sound of a vehicle horn outside the house. I wouldn't have thought anything of it, but it made Charlie jump up from his chair.

"That'll be your present, Bells. Think you should come outside." He told me as he set his beer on the coffee table and made his way to the front door.

I got up and followed him out to the porch, where I saw a huge red Chevy parked in the driveway. What could he have bought for me that needed to be dropped off? I watched nervously as a huge Quileute man jumped out of the cab and walked to the passenger side to help an oldish man out into a wheelchair.

"Hey Charlie," the man greeted him when he was settled into his chair. "How's it going?"

"Great, Bella just got here." He told him, motioning up the steps to me. Both the men looked up to where I was standing, and I gave them a small wave. "How're things on the Rez, Billy?" Charlie asked the man, and I realised it was Charlie's best friend, Billy Black. I had met him several times before when I was visiting Charlie, and had always been a bit intimidated by him. I think he was the chief of the nearby Quileute tribe, and he radiated authority.

"As they usually are Charlie, no trouble." He replied with a smile, still watching me. "You've grown up a lot since I last saw you, Bella. You have grown into a beautiful young woman."

I blushed, as I always did whenever I received a compliment. "Um, thanks Billy. You're looking pretty well yourself."

He chuckled at that. "Can't complain."

We were all silent then for a moment, and Billy looked at Charlie and raised his eyebrows, as if to prompt him.

"Oh right, yeah. Bells, say hello to your new truck!" he said, holding his arms out towards the Chevy in a 'voila' stance.

I definitely hadn't expected that. I felt my mouth drop open, but wasn't able to close it again. I looked between Charlie and the truck several times before I managed to speak.

"The truck… is for me?" I asked stupidly, walking slowly down the steps so as not to fall and beginning to circle the truck to get a better look.

"Yup, bought it off Billy here. He was saving it for his boy, Jacob, but he preferred to build up his own car. He's a really good mechanic, so any problems and he'll sort it right out for you." He was speaking fast and glancing at me nervously, awaiting my reaction.

"It's… perfect!" I announced, making the three men smile. Charlie looked shocked by my enthusiasm.

"Well I wouldn't use that adjective, but it'll run fine. I got Jacob to change the engine and tune her up properly this morning while I picked you up from the airport." He seemed to realise something then, and turned back to Billy. "Where is Jake? I expected him to drive it here."

"He's stuck at work, they've got a lot of customers to get through today. He wanted to come to see Bella, but I guess he'll have to visit when he's not so busy." He turned to the man standing behind him now, and I couldn't help but tear my eyes from the truck to look at him. "Paul here drove me instead."

Paul was the most beautiful man I had ever seen. He was really tall, had to be about 6"4, and incredibly well built. He had short dark hair, dark smouldering eyes and high cheek bones. His skin was a beautiful russet colour like Billy's, which I couldn't help but compare to my embarrassingly pale complexion. He gave me a cocky grin and I realised I had probably been staring at him a little too appreciatively. Blushing again, I quickly looked away to inspect my truck again.

"Thanks for this, dad. It's really great."

"No problem, kiddo. It might be old but it's one of the strongest vehicles you can get. Thought that might make you, y'know… feel a bit better about driving."

I smiled at him appreciatively and felt my eyes water up a little. It was the nicest thing anyone had ever done for me. After losing my mother to a car crash I was pretty nervous at the thought of driving, but the fact that Charlie had been concerned enough to buy me this monster to help protect me made me choke up. I just nodded; afraid my voice would crack if I tried to speak.

"Do you wanna take it for a test drive?" he asked me then. "You could take Billy and Paul back to La Push? It's only a fifteen minute drive."

"Sure," I said, eager to test my truck out and see a little of the area.

I got behind the wheel while Paul helped Billy back into the passenger side of the cab and put his wheelchair into the bed of the truck, before joining us up front. There wasn't much room for the three of us what with Paul's giant stature.

"Just make sure you stay in the speed limit!" Charlie called as I reversed off the drive, and I waved at him in acknowledgement.

"Don't think you'll have much problem with that," Paul spoke up from his cramped position next to Billy. "I think this is the slowest truck I've ever driven."

Billy looked like he was going to protest, but I beat him to it. "Don't bad mouth my truck!" I said in a mock serious tone. He snorted, and I gave Billy a wink.

With a few brief directions, I found my way to Billy's home on the reservation and pulled up in front of the small red house. It might have been small, but it definitely had a certain charm about it.

Before Paul got out to help Billy, I asked him, "Where can I take you to, Paul?"

"I'll just get out here thanks, I don't live far." With that he jumped out of the cab to retrieve the wheelchair, and Billy turned to me.

"More like he's coming in my house to eat everything in my cupboard," he said with a sarcastic laugh. "He's dating my daughter." He explained.

"Actually, I am engaged to your daughter Billy. Remember?" Paul added as he came back to the door.

"How could I forget" Billy muttered quietly to me with a wink, and Paul rolled his eyes as if he had heard him.

"Come on, old man. Let's get you in the house." He said with a laugh as he helped Billy out of the cab. "See you around, Bella."

"No doubt I will see you soon, Bella." Billy called with a knowing smile as Paul began to wheel him towards the house.

"See you, Billy!" I shouted after him, before starting the truck and heading back to Charlie's place.

That night in my new bed, I wasn't surprised to see the return of my nightmare. I had been having the same nightmares over and over since Renee had died, and rarely got a proper night's sleep. I got out of bed the next morning feeling like I hadn't been to bed at all.


	2. The Uleys

**All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer, apart from the few I added.**

**CHAPTER TWO**

**BELLA POV**

Charlie had left early for work so I made my way down to the kitchen to make breakfast for myself. I found a note pinned to the fridge, telling me he would meet me for dinner at the diner in La Push. We used to go there almost every day when I visited, and it was one of the few things I liked about coming here. It was right by the beach, so we would sit and eat there and watch the waves hitting the shore. The cliffs and forests surrounding the area were beautiful to look at, so I always enjoyed sketching the views while Charlie ate his steak.

After eating a bowl of cereal, showering and then changing into some warm clothes, I decided to head out in my truck to explore a little. I drove around Forks for a while, seeing the school I would have gone to had I not moved to Phoenix with Renee. Aside from that there wasn't much to see, other than a couple of shops including an outdoor equipment shop. '_Won't be going in there very often' _I thought to myself as I drove straight past, heading towards La Push.

La Push was much more beautiful to look at than Forks. I drove along a few streets, past the little cosy looking houses, and past a couple of stores, before I came to the diner I would be meeting Charlie at later. I noticed a mechanics just down the street from the diner which was called 'Black's Repair Shop', and I figured it must belong to Billy's son.

It had stopped raining by the time I reached First beach, so I pulled up by the side of the diner and decided to take a walk along the edge of the water. Even in the dull, grey weather it was still a beautiful place to be, but after a while it began to rain again. I hated rain.

Pulling my hood up in disgust, I ran back to the truck and turned the heater on: my fingers were freezing from their short exposure to this weather. I supposed I would have to toughen up and get used to it. When they were almost back to their normal temperature, I turned the engine on and drove back to Charlie's to get changed for dinner.

Once I was in dry clothes, I headed back out to the diner. Charlie's cruiser was already parked up outside when I got there, so I walked into the building and took a quick glance around. Charlie was sat at a table by the window: where we would always sit when I was younger. There were only a couple more customers in there, and the waitress approached us as soon as I had sat down and greeted Charlie.

She was probably not much older than me, with copper skin and shiny, straight black hair. She was undeniably beautiful, but her natural beauty was flawed by the three deep scars that ran down the right side of her face, from hairline to chin. She smiled widely with the left side of her face as she walked over to our table.

"Hey Charlie!" she said brightly when she came to a stop by his side. "The usual?"

"Yes please, Emily" Charlie answered with a sheepish grin at me. Trust him to be on first name basis with the staff here, he must eat here every day. "This is my daughter, Bella." He said motioning to me. "Bella, this is Emily Uley."

"Hi" I greeted her with a small smile. I wasn't usually very confident when it came to meeting new people, but I knew I would have to try harder if I wanted to make any friends here.

"Hey, Bella! I've heard a lot about you. You sure do look like Charlie. But much better looking, obviously." She said, nudging Charlie's shoulder playfully.

I just laughed, feeling myself blush. That was something I couldn't control.

"So, what can I get you honey?" she asked kindly, looking to me with sparkling brown eyes.

"Um, I'll have the garden burger please. And a diet coke."

"No problem, sweetie. I'll get your order to the kitchen, it shouldn't take long what with us being _so _busy!" she laughed sarcastically, gesturing towards the rest of the diner with her hand before turning and walking away.

"She seems nice." I observed to Charlie when she was out of earshot.

"Yeah she is, great girl. Shame about the-" he gestured to his face, "y'know. Poor girl."

"What happened to her?" I asked, unable to curb my curiosity.

"Bear attack." Charlie answered simply, as if this was an everyday occurrence.

"A bear?" I asked, in shock.

"Yup. You're not in Phoenix anymore, kiddo."

We sat in silence then while I contemplated that. I was undoubtedly the clumsiest, unluckiest girl I had ever met, but I had never had to worry about bears before. How long would it be before I found myself up close with a big, dangerous animal?

Charlie seemed to pick up on my train of thought as he said, "Don't worry about that, Bells. Just keep out of the forests and you'll be fine. Well, as fine as you can be whilst battling your everyday enemies like stairs, puddles, fridges…" he trailed off there and shook his head, probably remembering the time I had accidentally trapped my head in his fridge door. To this day, I still could not tell you how I had managed it.

"So, what are your plans?" he asked when he had stopped chuckling to himself.

"I was thinking about trying to invest some of Renee's money in a restaurant, seeing as my degree is in culinary. I love cooking, so I should do that, right?"

"Sure Bells, whatever makes you happy. Have you thought about where you want to go? Not that I want you to go anywhere, it's nice to have you back here after all this time."

"I haven't really thought about it, but I want to stay here with you for a while first. If you don't mind me living with you?"

"Of course I don't Bells, like I said it's nice to have you here. House is too quiet with no one else living in it."

I felt bad then, Charlie had been alone for a long time. Like me, he enjoyed being alone, but surely it must get depressing after a while? He seemed to be following the same line of thought, so I changed the subject.

"Is the diner always this quiet?" I asked, looking around at the lack of customers. Emily was now sat in a booth not far from us, and seemed to be knitting something.

"No, but the owners are selling up. Moving to Hawaii or something, but it's been on the market for a while now with no interest. It would be a good investment especially at the price they're asking, but no one round here has that kind of money just lying around."

"How much are they asking?" I asked, curiosity getting the better of me. It might help me know how much I had to be prepared to spend in future.

"Was on the market for $150,000 but it's been reduced a lot. Think it's going for less than $100,000 at the moment. Owners want a quick sale."

Just then Emily came back over carrying our food and drinks. "One garden burger for you sweetie," she said, placing a plate in front of me, "and one rare steak for you, Chief" she said, setting down Charlie's meal. "Let me know if there's anything I can get for you!" She started to walk away, but Charlie caused her to turn back.

"Hey Emily, has there been any interest in the diner?" he asked her, smearing sauce over his steak.

"Nope," she replied, popping the 'p'. "Been reduced to $85,000 now too, I'd love to buy it myself but Sam and I just can't scrape that kind of money together." She told us, looking upset. "I love this place, but I don't know what will happen to it if it doesn't sell soon."

"It is a shame." Charlie agreed.

"Do you think it's a good business venture?" I asked her, putting some salad in my mouth. "I mean, does it make good money?"

"Yeah definitely, I guess it's just not in a great place for someone to buy it. I mean, not a great place because people on the Rez don't tend to have heaps of cash to spare. We just make enough to get by. But it's in a great location for custom, we're always getting tourists in with it being so close to the beach. Plus the locals are really loyal." She added with a snigger, nudging Charlie's shoulder again.

I thought about what she had said while I chewed on my burger. Renee had left me well over $100,000 with the sale of her house, and I had always loved this place. Plus it would give me a great excuse to spend time with Charlie. But did I want to be tied to this place in that way?

"What do you think, dad?"

"Hmm?" he asked me, too consumed by his food.

"The diner, what do you think?"

"Well I love it, you know that. I spend a good percentage of my wage here." He chuckled, taking a sip of his drink.

"No I mean, what do you think about me… maybe… buying it?"

He looked up at me then, clearly shocked by what I had said.

"I never thought about that," he replied, putting his hand on his chin thoughtfully. "Like Emily said, she would buy it if she had the money, and I wouldn't hesitate to invest in it. Are you sure this is where you want to stay though, Bells? I never got the impression you liked Forks."

I felt awkward then. How do you politely say you don't like the place your dad has chosen to spend his life? "Well, I've always loved this place." I replied carefully. "Especially the location, I love the beach."

"Then it's entirely up to you kiddo. But I think it would be a smart move, you'll never see this kind of opportunity again. I mean $85,000 is insane, you'd make that back in no time."

"I'll sleep on it." I decided, and Charlie gave me a knowing look. I was stubborn like him, and whenever I set my mind on something I sure as hell would stick with it.

After the meal I was still deep in thought when we said our goodbyes to Emily. Before we left she told me she would love for me to hang out with her one day when she wasn't at work, so we exchanged phone numbers.

That night the usual nightmares were replaced by a new dream, where I was in a restaurant serving food to several huge Quileute men who looked a lot like Paul. I slept a lot better than I had in months, and when I woke up I knew that my subconscious had made the decision for me.

I got out of bed and decided to call Emily to get her perspective on my plans. I dialled her number and a deep male voice answered.

"Hello?"

"Hi, this is Bella Swan. Is Emily home?"

"Yeah she is, I'll just shout her."

"Ok, thanks" I replied as I heard him shout her name away from the phone.

A moment later, Emily's melodic voice came through the receiver.

"Bella?"

"Hey Emily, sorry to call you so early."

"It's no problem, we were up early with our son."

"Oh, I didn't know you had a son?"

"Yeah, Sammy. He's a handful but gorgeous." She laughed.

"I bet he is" I laughed. "I was just calling because… well I was actually thinking about buying the diner."

"Oh wow Bella, that would be amazing!" she gushed, sounding as excited as I felt. "I meant everything I said yesterday, I would put my own money into it if we could afford to."

"Well I called for your opinion, and I guess I have it!" I laughed, feeling confident in my decision now. "Are you working today? I was going to come over and speak to the owner."

"No, it's my day off today" she said, sounding disappointed. "I'm just staying at home with Sammy though, maybe you could come here first and we can talk about it? I'll even cook you breakfast." She added, as if I needed persuading to go and speak to her.

"That'd be great, thanks. Where do you live?"

She gave me directions, and I realised she lived not far from the diner so I should be able to find it easily enough. After ending the call I showered and dressed, then grabbed the keys to the truck and headed for La Push.

Fifteen minutes later I was pulling up outside Emily's house, where she was waiting for me on the porch with a small raven haired child in her arms. I jumped out of the cab and headed up the steps, grinning when I saw how happy she looked to see me.

"Hey!" I greeted, looking down at the little boy. "Hey Sammy" I added, holding out my finger which he took in his little fist. "He really is beautiful, Emily."

"Yeah he is, takes after his daddy," she laughed, looking down at him. He refused to let go of my finger, and she laughed. "I think he likes you. Come on in, I'll get started on breakfast. I'm sure Sam thinks he's dying of starvation by now." I looked to her, and she must have seen the confusion on my face as she continued, "Sam's my husband, and he eats like a… dog" she explained, laughing lightly at her own joke. I smiled and nodded in understanding.

She led me into the house then, which smelled of baking. It was a delicious, comforting smell and I instantly liked Emily's cosy little home. We walked through the kitchen and into the living room, where Sam was sitting on the sofa watching TV. He stood up when we entered, taking Sammy from Emily with one hand and holding his other out to me in greeting.

"Hey Bella, I'm Sam Uley." He told me as I took his hand. I noticed that his voice radiated a similar authority to that of Billy Black, and wondered if he also was an important figure in the tribe.

"Hey, good to meet you." I replied with a smile.

"We've all heard a lot about you from your father," he chuckled, and I felt myself blush. "All good of course."

"Sit down, Bella. Make yourself at home." Emily smiled to me, motioning to the sofa. "Food won't be long." She stood on her tiptoes to kiss Sam and Sammy before she left the room, and I realised how big Sam was. He must have been about 6"7, even bigger than Paul who I had met yesterday. Just as we both sat down on the sofas, the front door burst open and in came Paul and another man I hadn't seen before, although they looked very much alike. They both came to an abrupt halt when they spotted me.

"Paul, Jared, this is Bella Swan." Sam said quickly as they looked between us. "Bella this is Paul, and Jared."

"We've already met" Paul said, shooting me a polite smile and taking a seat next to Sam.

"Hey, I'm Jared" the other man said, sitting down heavily next to me and almost moving the sofa.

"Hi" I replied, smiling towards him.

Sammy made a noise then, trying to get everyone's attention.

"Sorry buddy, hey there Sammy" Paul said, ruffling his hair a little.

"Hey Sammy" Jared called.

"Attention seeker, aren't you?" Sam laughed, kissing him on the top of his head. His expression turned serious then as he looked between the boys. "Everything OK?"

"Sure, nothing new." Paul said, glancing at me. I got the impression that they were speaking in code, but quickly forgot it when Emily called from the kitchen.

"Food's up!"

The three men quickly jumped to their feet and scrambled towards the kitchen, then all stopped at exactly the same time and turned back to me.

"Sorry Bella, ladies first." Sam said, motioning with his free arm for me to go through to the kitchen. I did as he said and walked into the kitchen, where Emily was dishing bacon and eggs onto plates.

"Take a seat, Bella." She told me, waving towards the table with a spatula in her hand. She then looked past me to the other guests. "Thought you might be making an appearance, good thing I made enough to feed half the tribe." She said, a playful glint in her eye. She then took Sammy from Sam and placed him in a high chair, handing him his own plateful.

Once she sat down, everyone began to eat. I had never seen so much food consumed by three men before, and they ate so quickly that I expected one of them to choke at any moment. I glanced at Emily, who was watching me with an amused look on her face.

"Told you they ate like dogs" she laughed, and one of the men snorted. "Good job I can cook!"

"Mmm, it's great baby" Sam murmured appreciatively in between mouthfuls of food.

When the last of the food had gone, the men walked back into the living room and I stayed behind with Emily to help her clear up.

"Well you survived your first meal with the wolves" she laughed, then stopped abruptly like she had said something she shouldn't have. The conversation in the next room suddenly halted, and there was silence throughout the house.

"Yeah, they do eat like wolves I guess" I laughed, and Emily smiled nervously. The voices started up again through the wall. "So, the diner?" I changed the subject to try and ease the strange tension that had suddenly spread through the house.

"Yeah, it's a great idea!" Emily replied eagerly. "I've really loved working there and… I assume you can cook?"

"Um, yeah. Well, I went to culinary school so I hope I can" I said jokingly.

"Did you really? Charlie never told me that. You should be making us breakfast then!" she laughed as she made a start on the dishes.

"Yeah, and you probably know my mum died?" she nodded sympathetically, but I continued before she could say anything. "Well, she left me some money, and I was planning on investing in a restaurant I guess. So, if I can buy the whole thing, I may as well do that right?"

"Yeah, well I would. I know it would mean a lot to your dad."

I snorted. "Yeah, he sure does love his steak."

"No, I mean of course he'll be happy if he can still go there, but he'll be really happy that you're staying. I know he missed you a lot in between your visits."

"Yeah I know, it'll be nice to spend time with him."

"Well then I guess that settles it! Bella Swan: owner of La Push's finest diner!"

I laughed. "Come on, we have to aim bigger than that. How about, the Olympic Peninsula's finest diner?"

"Definitely" she laughed. "Do you want me to come with you to speak to Mary, the owner? Might get you mates' rates?"

"That would be great actually, I could do with the moral support. Do you mind though? I mean, it's your day off?"

"Well it looks like I don't work there anymore, so it's no problem" she laughed. "I was only going to do some laundry anyway, I'm sure it can wait."

"Don't you want to work for me?" I asked, feeling a little hurt.

Her eyes lit up. "Of course I do, I just didn't want to assume anything!" she grinned. "You're amazing Bella Swan, I didn't know what we were going to do without my income." She told me, pulling me into a tight hug.

"It's no problem Emily, I think you know a lot more about the place than I do so you'll be a great help. What is your position there now, if you don't mind me asking?"

"I'm just the waitress, Mary does all the cooking."

"Well how about you get a promotion for helping me set the place up? How does manager sound?"

"Oh my god!" she screeched, and I heard footsteps come running into the doorway.

"Emily, what's wrong?" Sam asked, sounding concerned.

"Bella just promoted me to manager at the diner!"

Sam raised his eyebrows at me before replying. "Honey, I don't think Bella has the authority to promote people at the diner…"

"I'm buying it" I cut in before he accused us of being crazy. "At least, I am after I've spoken to Mary."

"Well then, that's great babe!" he said, pulling her into a hug. "Thanks, Bella!"

"No problem, she is the best woman for the job."

"She is." He agreed, gazing down at her lovingly.

"Come on then, boss! Let's buy you a diner!"

"Ok, as long as you never call me boss again!" I laughed, and let her lead me out of the house and to my truck after we had said bye to Sammy and the boys.


	3. The Diner

**All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer, apart from the few I introduced.**

**CHAPTER THREE**

**BELLA POV**

Emily helped me out a lot at the meeting with Mary, and I ended up making a deal with her to pay $80,000 for the diner, including all of the kitchen appliances. This meant that the diner was pretty much ready to be opened under new management the next day, but I wanted to take a bit of time to advertise and maybe do a bit of decorating first.

Emily and I were both really eager to get started as soon as possible, so she called Sam and told him to recruit some of his friends to come to the diner with supplies. An hour later four huge men and two women, along with two toddlers, arrived at my diner armed with tins of paint and lots of brushes and rollers.

Sam, Jared, Paul and their friend Seth were assigned by Emily to tackle the outside, which was currently a well-worn cream colour. We decided it needed to be bright white, to make it stand out against the backdrop of the sea, mountains and forest.

Me, Emily, and two women I had not met yet were left to bring the inside to life with a lick of paint, and to decide what new decorations we should add. Rachel Black was Billy's daughter and Paul's fiancée, who worked at the elementary school in La Push. Luckily for me they were having a training day, and Rachel was more than willing to help me out as she knew Charlie well. Kim Cameron was Jared's wife, who was a stay-at-home mum to their son, Joshua, who was a few months younger than Sammy. The two boys played with their toys while we discussed décor.

In the end we decided we should give the diner a beach theme inside to liven it up a little for the tourists, as currently it was just painted a dull brown. We painted the walls a pale blue colour, and it turned out that Kim was a brilliant painter so she volunteered to paint a mosaic on the main wall while the rest of us hung pictures of First beach and the cliffs on the other walls. I remembered that the stones on the beach were always beautiful to look at with many different colours, so I went into town and bought a vase for each table which I filled with the stones from the beach. By the time I got back, the outside was almost finished and Kim had finished her masterpiece.

She had recreated the sea and cliffs of the beach, with the forests at the top of the cliffs and the moon big and bright in the sky. It was beautiful but I felt like there was something missing, so I looked through all the pictures we had hung on the walls and the ones that were still on the floor. There was one that had caught my attention, that I thought would fit really well with Kim's creation.

"Can you paint wolves?" I asked her, earning a bewildered look from all three women.

"Yeah… why?" she asked, looking at me like I had lost my mind.

"What about this wolf?" I asked, handing her the picture that I had taken a liking to. It was a huge, rusty brown wolf that was howling up at the moon, and it had caught my eye because the colouring of the wolf's fur reminded me of the Quileute people's russet skin tone.

"Sure, if that's what you want." She replied, glancing at the other women.

"That'll look great" Emily said to me, leading me over to where Sammy and Josh were playing quietly. I heard the other two whispering to each other as we walked away, but I only caught a little of what they were saying.

"Has she met Jacob yet?" Kim asked Rachel.

"Not as far as I know." Rachel replied.

"I wonder if-" Kim began, but Rachel cut her off.

"I dunno, but that is just _too _weird to be a coincidence."

At first I thought they were talking about me, but it didn't make any sense to me. They must have been discussing someone else I decided. But I still felt uneasy, and saw them glancing at me with strange expressions several times.

Putting the strange conversation to the back of my mind, I watched the kids play for a while as Kim painted my wolf. When she had finished, I knew the wall was complete. It looked beautiful.

"Thank you so much Kim, it looks amazing!" I told her, giving her a hug. "I know it was kind of a weird suggestion, but it just caught my attention and I knew it would look great." I told her, feeling like I needed to explain myself.

"Glad you like it" she grinned, returning my hug.

The men came in from outside then, covered in splotches of white paint that stood out brilliantly against their dark skin.

"All finished, captain!" Jared announced, holding a paintbrush in the air in triumph. "Wow, it looks great in here," he said, looking around until his eyes settled on the wolf. "Is that-" he started to ask, but Rachel cut him off.

"Bella chose it. She saw it on a picture and it caught her eye." She told them, and there was another awkward silence where everyone looked at each other oddly. I had a childlike urge to stamp my foot, feeling left out of whatever silent conversation was going on around me.

"Well I think it looks great" Sam announced, breaking the silence. "Come see the outside though, it's impressive."

We all filed outside and stood in the car park, turning to face the building. There was a general "Oooh" amongst us girls. The white had offset the diner perfectly against its beautiful backdrop.

"It'll look even better at night" Seth told us as we stared. "The moon will reflect off the surface, so it will look like it glows in the dark."

I grinned happily, not believing how much had happened in one day.

"Thank you all so much guys, you don't know how much I appreciate your help" I told them, grinning round at them all. "You're welcome here whenever you want, and whatever you want is on the house." I announced, as I knew they wouldn't accept any other form of payment.

"You're gonna regret that," Emily teased. "You've seen how they eat, you'll be bankrupt before you've even started!"

I laughed, "We'll be fine. They've earned it."

"So when's the grand opening? So I can come for breakfast" Jared laughed.

"Well I guess we should give it a day for the paint smell to be gone, then we're good to go. So, today's Monday, how about Wednesday?" I replied.

"Sounds good to me!" Jared laughed back.

"How about we cook some dinner now though? You must all be starving."

There was a nod of agreement amongst the men and I laughed.

"Come on then, manager, we best get the ovens started!" I said, turning to Emily.

"Yes, boss!"

After we had cooked, and the men had eaten enough food to last me and Charlie a month, we all said our goodbyes and headed home exhausted from all the hard work. I told Charlie all about my day, and he was more than happy that I would be sticking around _and _I had saved his favourite diner in the process.

That night in bed I dreamt of the russet wolf, howling to the moon. I slept well.

Tuesday dragged by as I was so eager to get the diner open. I had all of the windows and doors opened for the morning to air it out and get rid of the paint smell, then during the afternoon Emily, Kim and I headed round La Push and Forks sticking up flyers to let people know the diner would be reopening under new management tomorrow morning.

I would be manning the ovens whilst Emily would be waitressing, but I thought it would be best to have another waitress as well just in case we got busy. Kim told me she would help out as long as she could bring Josh, so I agreed to create a crèche in the office for Josh and Sammy to stay in while we were busy.

Wednesday morning I woke up bright and early and drove to my diner to get ready to open up for the first time. At 6am Emily and I unlocked the doors and were greeted by our first customer, Charlie. He loved the changes we had made, and refused when I offered him his breakfast on the house, wanting to be our first paying customer. Emily had a spare frame, which we displayed our first dollar in behind the counter.

We had a few more customers, then when it got to 9am I noticed a man come in who looked just like the other Quileute men I had met up to now. He was with a little girl, who like all the other people I had met around here, had long, shiny black hair and beautiful copper skin. Emily and Kim both knew him, so I gathered he must have been a friend of Sam and Jared.

"Bella, come out here a sec!" Emily called as she spoke with the man.

I walked out into the seating area of the dining area, and noticed the man watching me.

"Bella this is Quil Ateara, a friend of ours. Quil, this is Bella Swan."

He didn't hold out his hand to me as Sam had, but pulled me into a firm bear hug that lifted me off my feet. It took me by surprise, but I hugged him back.

"It's good to meet you at last!" Quil beamed, setting me back on my feet. "How is Charlie's daughter so beautiful?" he laughed. I blushed, as my natural response.

"I know, she's gorgeous isn't she" Emily smiled.

"This is Claire-Bear" Quil told me, lifting the girl to my eye level.

"Nice to meet you" she told me seriously, holding her hand out. I took it with a smile.

"It's very nice to meet you too" I told her, and she smiled back sweetly.

"I taught her that" Quil laughed as he set her back down.

"Do you want to come and see Josh and Sammy?" Kim asked. Claire nodded, so she took her hand and led her into the back where the toddlers were playing.

"She's gorgeous" I told him as we watched her walk through the door that led to the office. How old is she?"

"Six and a half." Quil told me proudly.

"You must have had her young, then. How old are you?"

Both he and Emily started laughing, and I raised an eyebrow.

"He's only 20, Bella." Emily told me, still chuckling. That made me raise my eyebrow higher in confusion.

"She's not mine" Quil clarified. "I just babysit… a lot."

"She's my niece, and I guess she's like family to Quil" Emily said in an attempt to explain, and she and Quil exchanged an amused look. "No child of his could be that much of a little stunner!" she joked, and Quil gave her a playful shove.

"Haven't you got customers to be insulting?" Quil asked her, then looked back to me. "I've heard so much about you, Miss Swan."

"Oh I know, my dad must have been blabbing to everyone!" I laughed.

"Nah, not from your dad. From Jacob. He's pretty excited to finally get to meet you again."

"Jacob Black?" I asked him, wondering why he would be excited to meet me.

"Yeah, he's had a crush on you since he was like, 6 or something." He laughed.

"Quil," Emily scolded him, "Don't you think Jacob will be a little embarrassed if he finds out you've told Bella all his secrets?"

"I'm not gonna tell her all of them!" he shot back, earning himself a glare from her. "But I'm sure Jake will be by later to see you in person. I mean, you look great in Charlie's photos but… the camera can lie, y'know? It would suck if you were butt ugly when he's been lusting after you for so long!" he laughed, then noticed my hurt look. "You're not butt ugly, at all. You're even better in real life actually, Jake will be thrilled."

"Ok…" I began, not really sure how to respond to him. "Can I get you anything?"

He raised his eyebrows, and Emily slapped his chest. "Food or drink, idiot!"

"Oh, um… sure, could we have some pancakes please?"

"I take it you eat like Sam, Paul and Jared?"

He nodded with a mischievous grin.

"Ok, I'll send you three portions" I laughed, turning to go back to the kitchen.

I sent Quil his mountain of pancakes and then took some to the office for the kids, but I never got chance to speak to him again as we got really busy. He shouted a thanks and goodbye through the kitchen doorway as he left, and Claire came and gave me a hug. The busy streak didn't let up until after lunch, when the diner was empty for a while so the three of us took a break.

The rest of the day was made up of mainly busy spells with the occasional slow periods, but by the end of the day I was really happy with the takings and Emily declared our first day a success. At about 11pm we were just getting ready to close up for the night, when I heard the bell above the door signal that we had customers. I carried on cleaning anyway hoping they wouldn't want much so we could go home, when Emily called me from the other room.

"Bella, come in here a sec?"


	4. Jacob Black

**Hi guys! I currently have the first ten chapters finished so I'll try to update regularly. Thanks so much for the reviews! Time for some Jacob now I think... ;)**

**All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer, apart from the few I added.**

**CHAPTER FOUR**

**JACOB POV**

I was in the garage at the ass crack of dawn for the fourth day in a row, and wasn't in the greatest of moods. It was Quil's day off today because he got to babysit Claire on Wednesdays, so I knew Embry and I would be crazy busy _again _and probably not be able to leave till late at night _again. _Don't get me wrong, being busy was much better than being bored, but business had chosen the worst time possible to pick up.

Bella Swan had arrived in town three days ago, and I had still not had the chance to go and see her. I had been looking forward to the day she would come back to Forks for years, ever since she stopped visiting during the summer when she was about 12. At the time I had been ridiculously upset that I wouldn't be able to see her, and the only contact I had with her since then was looking at photos of her round at Charlie's house. Pathetic, I know.

But even though I hadn't actually seen or spoken to her, I still had a huge crush on her. I couldn't explain it; I had only met her a handful of times when I was young but she seemed to have a lasting impression on me or something. I had dated girls from school and on the Rez, but always thought about her still. Her long brown hair, her milk chocolate eyes, her creamy complexion. She was definitely not something you would find on the Rez.

The morning went pretty quick and we got through quite a good number of the cars we had to sort today, so I allowed us a quick break. I went into the office to get a drink and heard Quil's voice echoing off the garage walls, which wasn't unusual because he often came in here on his day off to tease us for having to work. Ass.

So I went out to see him, and scooped Claire up into our usual greeting hug.

"Guess who I've just seen?" Quil said in a sing song voice, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

"I have no idea Quil, who have you just seen?" I asked him, not really in the mood for his playful personality right now.

"Some lady who goes by the name of… Isabella Swan." He said with a smirk and another quirk of the eyebrow.

"You've seen Bella?" I asked eagerly, forgetting my bad mood.

"Yup. And she is looking h-o-t. Even if I do say so myself."

"Did she say anything?" I asked, wanting to know everything. "Can we phase so I can see?"

"Nope Jakey boy, that would be cheating! She'll be at her diner till late though, you should call in. That girl can cook! Best pancakes I've ever had, even better than Emily's and that is saying something." His expression became serious then as he continued, "Have you seen what she's had painted on the wall? Emily's just shown me."

"No, what?" I asked, half expecting him to tell me she had a cock painted on the wall or something.

"It is the freakiest shit I have ever seen man. Seriously freaky." He said seriously.

"What?" I asked, raising my voice a little.

"A wolf."

"A wolf?"

"Yeah, a wolf. But not just any wolf…"

I raised my eyebrows at him, urging him to go on.

"_Your _wolf." He told me, widening his eyes. "Freaky huh?"

"Wait, what do you mean _my _wolf?"

"It's the exact same colour as you, man. That reddy brown thing you've got going on. Dunno why you can't just be normal brown or grey like the rest of us-"

"You mean, Bella chose to have a russet wolf painted on the wall of her diner?" I interrupted him.

"Oh yeah, I saw that when I was phased last night," Embry spoke up from behind me. "Sam was thinking about it, trying to explain it to himself. Freaky, huh?"

"Huh." I responded, thinking it through. "Do you think Bella is my-"

"Only one way to find out, man" Embry cut in, slapping me on the back.

"It's about time man, that's all I can say" Quil added.

"I know. But what if she's not?" I asked, not wanting to raise my hopes.

"I dunno, but if she's not then that is the weirdest coincidence I've ever witnessed. Like an act of God or something." Embry said, high fiving Claire.

"The girls were really freaked about it, Emily's just been telling me." Quil said. "She says she's slipped up a few times but Bella doesn't seem to have noticed, but then the wolf thing was just plain weird."

"We should just get over there when we've finished up here, so we can finally know" Embry said, pulling his overalls back up over his arms. "Let's get going, the sooner we finish the sooner we can know."

"Yeah, you're right. See you later Claire-Bear" I told her, ruffling her hair and earning myself a smack.

I carried on with my work but couldn't get the thoughts out of my head. What did all this mean? Were me and Bella destined to be together? The rest of the pack had all imprinted, apart from Leah but who knew what was going on with her. Being the first female wolf had definitely not been easy for her.

Although I hadn't accepted it yet, I was the true alpha of the pack thanks to my bloodline. I was also the future chief of the tribe when Billy decided to step down. So why wouldn't I have imprinted when the rest of the pack had? Surely it was more important for me to spread my seed so that we have an heir to the chief and alpha role?

The only reason I could think of was: you haven't seen her yet since you first phased. Was Bella Swan my future?

Finally at almost 11pm we finished up for the day, locked up and headed for the diner. I was so nervous, it was unbelievable. I never got nervous about anything. But I was now approaching possibly the biggest moment of my life so far: meeting my life partner. My imprint. My soul mate. The girl I would marry. The woman who would have my kids.

"You ok, man? You look sick." Embry told me as we got to the door.

"I'm great, let's just get this over with." And with that, I pushed open the door and had to duck my head so as to not headbutt the bell that sounded. Being 6"7 had its drawbacks in the real world.

"Hey you two" Emily greeted us, giving me a knowing smile. "You ready for this?" she asked me.

"I really don't know" I told her truthfully, scanning the walls. It looked a lot better in here since the last time I had been in. My eyes stopped on the wolf that took up most of the main wall.

"I know, it's uncanny isn't it" Emily said, following my gaze.

"Dude, it looks just like you! That's crazy!"

"Yeah it is" I turned to Emily. "Do you think-"

She smiled and cut me off. "It's time we all knew." She turned her head towards the direction of the kitchen, and called, "Bella, come in here a sec?"

I closed my eyes, listening to my heart pounding in my chest. Was this finally going to happen now? In here? I heard a couple of bangs like she was walking into things, then there was silence.

"This is Embry Call, and Jacob Black." Emily said. "Boys, meet Bella."

"Um, hi." A new voice said quietly. A beautiful, vaguely familiar voice. I forced myself to open my eyes, but I avoided her gaze. I looked down, at her feet. She had beautiful feet. And beautiful legs, flat stomach, little dainty hands, slim arms, perfect boobs, slender neck, tempting lips…

"Hey, I'm Embry" he said, leaning forwards and pulling her into a hug out of my eyesight.

He set her down and I looked up a fraction, and then it happened. I saw those beautiful chocolate eyes, and that was it. That was all I saw. That was all that was important to me in the world, looking into her eyes. Did she like me? Would she ever like me? What if she didn't? My heart tugged painfully at the thought, and dozens of other questions flew through my mind at the speed of light.

"Jake?" her angel voice stirred me from my crazy mind, but I couldn't reply. I just stared. And stared. I must have been making her uncomfortable, but I didn't care.

"Sorry about him, he just hit his head in the garage. Think he might have got a concussion or something. Jake? Anybody in there?"

"Um" was all I could manage. Nobody ever said you lost your brain when you imprinted!

"Oh god, is he alright? Should I call someone?" Bella asked, sounding panicked. That brought me to my senses.

"I'm alright, I'm great. I'm great. How are you?" I asked, probably too quickly for her to understand.

"I'm good thanks…"

"Good, that's good. Do you remember me?"

"Vaguely, you used to come fishing sometimes with me and our dads right?"

"Yeah that's right" I replied, feeling ecstatic that she remembered me.

"You've gotten pretty big since then though…"

"Yeah" I laughed. "You've got pretty… pretty. Not that you weren't pretty before but now you're… beautiful. That's the word."

She giggled and it was the most beautiful sound I had ever heard. "So, can I get you anything?" she exchanged a glance with Emily and they both giggled, must have been a private joke. "To eat or drink." She added.

"I'd love a burger and fries. And a coke." Embry told her, sitting himself down in the booth nearest the wolf.

"And you?" she asked me.

"Uh… same as Embry." I told her. "Thanks."

"No problem, it won't take long" she said, flashing me a smile and heading back to the kitchen. As soon as she was out of sight, Emily and Embry ambushed me.

"About time man!"

"Awww you're so sweet together!"

"Now you can stop whining like a little bitch!"

"Think how cute your puppies will be!"

"Think how hot _her _puppies are!"

"Embry don't be vile!"

I sat down, feeling happier than I ever thought was possible and ignoring the rest of Embry's comments about Bella's tits. "What do I do now?" I asked, looking up at them.

"Well, she needs to know. Everything." Emily said, turning serious.

"How the hell am I supposed to tell her all that though? She'll think I'm crazy!"

"I'll help you." Emily said. "She already trusts me quite a lot, so that should make it easier."

"I don't think I want her to know yet though. Do you think Sam will mind me waiting a couple of days?"

"I don't know, but I can speak to him for you." She said. "If you think that will make it easier on her?"

"I just, kind of want her to get to know me as a normal person a bit first. Do you know what I mean?"

"Yeah, of course I do sweetie. Don't worry, I'll deal with Sam."

We talked things through for a little while longer, then Bella brought our food in. It was the most incredible burger I had ever eaten. I noticed Emily take Bella aside to talk to her, but I was too famished to pay attention. Embry seemed to be the same way: we hadn't eaten since lunch which in wolf time counted as about a week.

As we finished with our food Bella began to close up for the night while Emily went and got Sammy from the back. He was fast asleep, so she carried him to Bella's truck for a lift home to put him to bed.

Before she got in the truck she whispered to me, "I've got Bella's take on all that, so meet me at my place and I'll fill you in." she ended with a wink.

"Ok, thanks."

Bella then approached me. "Night, Jacob."

"Night, Bella. See you soon I hope" I told her, pulling her into a hug and kissing the top of her head.

"Hope so" she replied with a smile, before hopping into the truck.


	5. The Pack

**All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer, apart from the few I added.**

**CHAPTER FIVE**

**BELLA POV**

I walked towards Emily, and saw that she was now with two other Quileute men who I had not met yet. Like the others they were both really tall, dark and _very _handsome. The taller of the two had his eyes closed as I approached, which I thought was a little odd. I was awkward when it came to meeting new people, but I don't think I had ever just stood there with my eyes shut as I was introduced to someone.

Emily informed me that the one closest to her was Embry Call, and the one with his eyes shut was Jacob Black. After what Quil had told me about him earlier, I thought that maybe he was just nervous to meet me again. Which _was_ kind of cute.

I couldn't help but drool over his perfect body and beautiful features, and when I finally looked to his eyes I saw he was looking me up and down too. I blushed as his eyes roamed upwards, and just before I met his gaze I was pulled forward into a hug by Embry. When he set me down I finally looked into Jacob's dark eyes, and felt as though some invisible force was pulling me towards him. His eyes were so intense that I couldn't stop staring into them. It was a new feeling to me: if I was a more romantic person I might have described it as love at first sight.

But I'm _not _a romantic person, so the thought was ridiculous to me. I did however accept that I had a _huge _instant crush on Jacob Black. I had no idea what was going through his mind but he continued to stare at me, so I thought I should probably speak to him before the others thought there was something wrong with us.

"Jake?" I asked him, prompting him to speak. His mouth opened a little, but he said nothing.

"Sorry about him, he just hit his head in the garage. Think he might have got a concussion or something. Jake? Anybody in there?" Embry said, giving him a little shove which I don't think he even acknowledged.

He made a sort of grunting noise in response, but my mind suddenly went into a panic.

"Oh god, is he alright? Should I call someone?" I asked quickly, flapping about. I had no idea where the intense concern for his wellbeing suddenly came from, but I felt a strong need to make sure he was okay. Finally, he spoke up and my body began to calm down.

"I'm alright, I'm great. I'm great. How are you?" he spoke so quickly that his words jumbled together into a barely understandable slur.

"I'm good thanks…" I replied slowly, still worried he might have suffered some sort of minor brain damage.

"Good, that's good. Do you remember me?"

"Vaguely, you used to come fishing sometimes with me, Billy and Charlie right?"

"Yeah that's right" he replied with a smile.

"You've gotten pretty big since then though…"

"Yeah" he laughed. "You've got pretty… pretty. Not that you weren't pretty before but now you're… beautiful. That's the word."

I had to giggle at that, which was odd because I can't ever remember 'giggling' before. "So, can I get you anything?" I glanced at Emily and remembered Quil's misunderstanding earlier, and giggled again before adding, "To eat or drink."

Both boys asked me for a burger, so I headed into the kitchen to make their food. I could hear the three of them talking and laughing together while I cooked, and the thought that Jacob was happy made me really happy. What the hell was this weird feeling in my stomach? Why should I be so taken by him already?

I was interrupted from my thoughts as I noticed the food was ready, so I carried it through and served it to the boys. Jacob flashed me a grin and I thought I was going to melt on the spot. Luckily, Emily pulled me to one side.

"Why do I get the impression that you have a thing for Jacob?" she asked with a knowing smirk. Usually I would have denied it, but I really needed to speak to someone and see if these intense feelings were normal.

"I don't know what it is Em, it's weird. I've never felt like this about anyone before, and I've only just met the guy! I can't explain it, it's like something is pulling me toward him and I just want to…"

"Touch him?" she guessed with a grin.

"Yeah, exactly! Is this normal?"

"I don't know if it's _normal, _but I've felt it before. With Sam."

"What if he doesn't like me back though? I mean, he might think I'm crazy!"

She shushed me with a hand movement, and lowered her voice a notch. "I happen to know that he _really _likes you. And as for being crazy, if you are then we all are!" she chuckled, patting me on the shoulder. "We will talk more about this tomorrow, but for now we need to go home. I'll go get Sammy."

I nodded and glanced at Jacob one last time before tearing myself away to lock up. I could feel his eyes on me as I moved around the building, blowing out candles and turning out lights, so I tried my best to look graceful. I only tripped a couple of times, which was probably a personal best, and before I knew it I was getting into my truck to drive Emily home.

We didn't really speak much on the short trip to her place, but as she got out of the cab she said, "I'll see you bright and early tomorrow. We have _a lot _to discuss!"

"Night Emily!" I called after her, before driving back to Charlie's place.

When I got in I was surprised to find Charlie was still in the kitchen reading a newspaper, and I decided to try and get some information out of him about Jacob. He was only too willing to brag about him to me.

"He's a great kid, Bells. You'll like him a lot. Very respectful, always happy to help Billy out. And he's doing really well for himself with the garage, Billy tells me he's been real busy so he must be bringing in quite a tidy income."

"Does he have a girlfriend?" I found myself asking before I could manage to stop myself. I started to blush, and Charlie quirked his eyebrow at me before answering.

"Not that I know of. He's had a few over the last few years, but it never seems to last that long. Not sure why, he's a great kid."

I headed to bed feeling reassured that Jacob was a good guy to be having a crush on, and went to sleep to dream about him all night.

**JACOB POV**

As soon as the truck was out of sight, Embry and I ran into the forest next to the diner and phased to run back to Sam's place. We beat Emily there, so let ourselves in through the back door as usual to be met by Sam.

"So? How did it go?" Sam asked straight away.

"I imprinted." I told him proudly, a huge grin spreading across my face.

He let out a sigh of relief, before patting my shoulder. "Congrats, man. We need to call a pack meeting ASAP to discuss this, let the guys know we will be welcoming a new member to the pack." He told me with a smile, then headed out of the door we had just come through. I assumed he was going to put the call out to the rest of the pack to get here for the meeting.

We both went and took a seat on the sofa, and I heard the roar of Bella's truck outside not long after. When she had put Sammy to bed, Emily came and sat beside me and filled me in on her conversation with Bella.

"So you're sure she feels it, too?"

"Definitely." She said with a smile. "I'm so happy for you, Jacob."

"Thanks, Em." I told her, as the door burst open once again and the entire pack trailed in. We were getting far too big to all comfortably fit in this tiny house. Once everyone had taken a seat, Sam addressed the group.

"As I am sure you are aware by now, Jacob imprinted tonight on Bella Swan." He stopped for a minute as each member of the pack offered their congratulations, slapping my back or punching my arm in turn. "So obviously, Jacob will be informing her of the existence of the pack at the first opportunity he gets-"

"Actually, Sam…" I cut in, causing all heads to turn in my direction. "I was speaking to Emily about this before, and I don't think I want to tell her right away. Obviously I will tell her, but I want her to get to know me a little as a human first. I mean, she only just moved here and I don't want to scare her off straight away, after all she's not aware of the tribal legends like all of your imprints were." I finished, gesturing around the room to my brothers.

"That's true, it is quite a lot of information to spring on her all at once." Emily spoke up from next to Sam. "I think she will be okay with it eventually, but it might be a little soon right now."

Sam thought about it for a moment before reaching a decision. "Okay Jacob, if it will be in the best interest for your imprint then I will allow you some time to break the news to her. It is Wednesday today, what if we organise a bonfire for Saturday night? You can bring Bella so she can listen to the legends: that might help you with telling her everything."

I thought about that: it only gave me two days to spend time with her as a normal couple. If what Emily said was true, I wouldn't need any more time than that. "Yeah, that'd be great. Thanks, Sam."

"Okay well that concludes the meeting then, I guess. Pack bonfire on Saturday, usual spot. And if any of you see Bella before then, try to be nice to her. We don't want to scare her off before she even knows the secret."

Everyone looked to Leah then, and she huffed indignantly. "What? I'm always nice!"

There was a general snort amongst us, and Leah shook her head. "Fine, I'll try my best."

Everyone left then to return to their imprints, or in the case of Leah, Seth and Brady, their patrolling. The main threat, or the _Cullens_ as they called themselves, had left a couple of months ago and had promised they wouldn't be coming back in any of our lifetimes, but Sam kept up the patrols just in case.

"I best get back and tell Billy the news. He'll be thrilled that he can count Charlie as family now" I laughed, and said my goodbyes to Sam and Emily before phasing and running home. Billy was waiting for me on the porch, obviously aware that I would be seeing Bella today. Paul had probably told him.

"Hey son, any news?" he asked me, eyes twinkling. I sometimes got the impression that Billy always knew Bella would be my imprint.

"Yep, I am no longer the odd one out in the pack" I told him, attempting to sound casual but failing miserably as the grin spread across my face.

"I thought so. I had a feeling." He told me, taking my hand when I got close to him. "I'm proud of you, son."

"I can't exactly control it, dad" I laughed. All I had done was look into her eyes, for God's sake.

"Not for imprinting, for waiting for it to come. You've been very patient, and it can't have been easy when all of your brothers were imprinting around you. I mean, when little Seth Clearwater imprinted I thought you were a lost cause…"

"Gee, thanks a lot old man" I laughed again, rubbing the back of my neck.

"You know what I mean." He told me seriously.

I did know what he meant. It had been almost four years since the last imprinting had occurred, when Seth Clearwater had imprinted on his girlfriend Amber. Although no one had said anything to my face, I had caught glimpses of worry for me from my brothers when we were phased. I had to admit, it did seem odd that the true Alpha of the pack couldn't find a mate.

"Are you happy with it?" he asked me then, mistaking my expression for doubt about the imprint.

"Honestly?" I asked, and he looked worried. "Yeah, dad. I'm _really _happy. Bella is…"

He chuckled as I drifted off into thought about Bella. "I know what you mean son, she sure is beautiful." He looked over his shoulder to the house then. "I'm gonna go ahead and get some sleep, maybe you should too? I know it's been a long day for you."

"Yeah, I'm exhausted." I told him as we walked towards our rooms. "Night, dad."

"Night, Jacob."

I got undressed and lay in bed, thinking about how I should go about trying to get Bella to like me. I thought of various elaborate dates I could take her on, then remembered I only had two days. I drifted off to sleep quite quickly, dreaming about Bella and getting more rest than I had in a long time.


	6. Packed Lunch

**All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer, apart from the few I added.**

**CHAPTER SIX**

**BELLA POV**

I got up even earlier than usual the next morning and raced to the diner, hoping to catch a glimpse of Jacob near the garage. My mood dampened significantly when I didn't get to see him, but I decided I would go and take him some food later if he was too busy to come and see me.

Emily and I opened up the diner and I headed back to the kitchen to wait. Moments later I heard the bell and peered around the wall, expecting Charlie to be the first customer of the day again. I was very pleasantly surprised when I saw Jacob grinning at me from the doorway.

"Hey" I called, walking over to him. "I thought you'd be too busy to call in today."

"We are pretty busy, but they can manage without me for a while. Quil told me I had to come and try some of your pancakes, I think he called them the 'best he had ever eaten'." He glanced at Emily then who looked a little hurt, so he backtracked quickly. "Joint best, of course."

She snorted and rolled her eyes at me. "So where do you want to sit? You have first choice."

He looked around quickly, then said, "How about next to the wolf?"

My heart jumped at that, glad someone had a good reaction to the wolf I had chosen to be painted on the wall. "You like the wolf? Everyone else thought I was crazy for wanting it there."

"I _love _the wolf. Especially the colouring." He told me with a grin, and Emily laughed.

"I know, right? That's why I chose it. He's beautiful." I said, glancing appreciatively at the russet fur that reminded me so much of Jacob's skin colour. Both of them laughed and exchanged another of their knowing looks, which annoyed me a little. I hated feeling like I wasn't in on the joke.

"So, three portions of pancakes with syrup?" I asked him.

"Sounds great, Bells." He told me with a smile as he sat at his choice of booth.

"Bells?" I asked, stopping in my tracks. Only Charlie ever called me that.

"Yeah, sorry. I think I must have picked it up off Charlie, he talks about you a lot. Sorry, I won't use it anymore…"

"No, no" I interrupted him. "I like it."

"Good." He responded with one of his huge grins that I loved so much.

I went to the kitchen and made his food, but wasn't able to take it out to him myself as the diner suddenly got really busy. He called into the kitchen to tell me thanks and to try and pay on his way out, but I refused, so he told me he would take me out for dinner tomorrow night in return. I was only too happy to accept his offer, but was sad that he had to leave to go to work.

The rest of the day went pretty quick, as the diner was even busier than the day before. If business continued at this rate I would need to hire another waitress, so that Emily could help me out in the kitchen. Charlie came in for dinner, but other than that I didn't see anyone who I knew.

Just as it was getting close to closing time, the phone rang and Emily answered it. A minute later she poked her head into the kitchen.

"Embry is on the phone, he was calling to see if we could make the three of them some food? And then he will call in to grab it when it's done, they're too busy to come in and sit to eat."

"Sure, I can do that." I had a thought then, so added, "Tell him I'll call into the garage with it on the way home. Saves him having to come down here for it."

She gave me a knowing smile, before telling Embry what I had said. She then closed the door of the diner to stop more customers coming in, and came into the kitchen to help me prepare a feast for Jacob, Embry and Quil. Half an hour later I dropped Emily off at home, then headed to the garage to drop the food off.

The boys sounded busy as I entered the garage: there were lots of loud noises that sounded like metal scraping against metal and I could hear a drill being used over in the far corner. Like in the diner, a bell tinkled above my head when I entered and the noises stopped abruptly. Before I knew it, three huge and hungry men were running at me, sniffing the air appreciatively.

"Smells great, Bella!" Quil stated as I handed him the basket of food.

"I am _starving_!" Embry added, grinning at me before following Quil and the food into another room.

That left Jacob standing in front of me, smiling nervously. "Thanks so much for this Bells, we really appreciate it."

"It's no problem, really. I just hope there's enough food, I've seen how you boys eat!"

He chuckled, and gestured for me to follow him to the door the others had just disappeared through. "Do you want to come in for a drink? I mean, unless you've got somewhere to be…"

"Sounds good" I said, allowing him to lead me through the door to another, smaller and cleaner looking room.

"Staff room." He explained to me as I glanced around. "Not that we've had much chance to use it lately, we've been so busy that we've had to eat while we work."

"It's been a bit like that at the diner" I told him as we both took a seat at the table where Quil and Embry were already pulling the food from the basket. "I'm actually thinking about looking for an extra waitress to work with Kim, so that Emily can help me out in the kitchen."

"You're looking for a waitress?" Embry asked, joining our conversation. "My girlfriend Jackie is looking for a job at the moment, maybe she could get an interview or something? She worked at a restaurant on the Makah reservation for like a year before she moved over here."

I raised my eyebrows, surprised at how easy that had been. "She doesn't need an interview, she can have the job if she wants it!"

"Really?" he asked me, pulling his phone out of his pocket. "I'll text her now."

I turned to look at Jacob, who was smiling at me while he tucked into some pizza.

"What?" I asked him, unable to stop myself smiling back.

"Nothing, you're just fitting in really well here. I'm glad."

"Yeah, I am too. You guys are all great, you've made me feel really welcome."

"Good" Quil mumbled through a mouthful of food. "You're pretty much one of the gang now, once you meet the others."

"There's more of you?" I asked, wondering how many huge Quileute boys there could be living in La Push.

"Sure, sure." Jacob said, taking another huge bite of pizza. "I think you've met all the older guys, but then there's Collin and Brady."

"And don't forget Leah" Quil laughed.

"Oh yeah, no one could ever forget Leah." He laughed back, then looked at my confused expression. "Leah is Emily's cousin, but they kind of had a falling out a few years back and Leah's been pretty bitter about it ever since."

"_Long _story" Quil added.

"Hey, Jackie says that would be amazing," Embry interrupted, changing the subject. "She can start tomorrow if that's any good?"

"That would be amazing" I said, and he grinned at me.

"Thanks for this, Bella"

"It's no problem really, I seriously need the help!"

"Yeah, we should probably think about taking someone else on guys" Jacob said then.

"How about Collin and Brady? They've already said they want to work for you." Quil suggested.

"Still at school." Jacob replied, shaking his head.

"They could help out after school and at weekends when we need them to though" Embry said, and Jacob looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Yeah, and they could start right away. We already taught them everything we know." Quil said.

"And we can actually have meal times again" Embry added with a laugh.

"Ok, I'll speak to them tonight." Jacob agreed, smiling a little. "That reminds me, are we still on for dinner tomorrow night?" he asked, turning to face me.

"Yeah, of course" I told him with a smile.

"Good."


	7. First Date

**My second update for today, because I know not a lot happened in chapter six. Hope you enjoy! Please review and let me know. Also, do you want to see a lemon soon? Let me know! :)**

**All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer, apart from the few I introduced.**

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

**BELLA POV**

On Friday I spent the day watching the clock, waiting for it to get to 6pm so I could leave to get ready for my date with Jacob. Jackie, my new employee, was just as nice as all the other people I had met on the Rez. She was beautiful, with the same straight black hair and copper skin as Emily and Kim, and I quickly realised how much I must stand out when I was with them. My pale skin looked even paler when contrasted with their beautiful russet skin tone.

The difference in the personalities of the three girls sometimes made me wonder how they all got on so well. Emily was very open and friendly to everyone, but Kim was really shy and sometimes seemed to get shut out of the conversation. Jackie was the complete opposite of Kim: very chatty and confident. She spent the whole day joking with the customers and making them laugh, and I soon saw that she was a natural when it came to working with the customers. Her tip jar was twice as full as Kim's by 6pm when I more or less ran out of the diner to get ready for Jacob.

When I got home I took a quick shower, drying my hair and straightening it to leave it flowing over my shoulders like the Quileute girls did. I changed into a strapless navy blue dress that I had brought with me for special occasions, and decided to wear the black peep toe heels that Renee had bought for my graduation. I couldn't walk in them too well, but I figured I would need the extra height being with Jacob as he was over a foot taller than me. I rarely wore make up but I decided to go all out for my date, smearing on some grey eye shadow and mascara to make a smoky effect eye. Renee had shown me how to apply makeup when I was younger, when she had tried to get me into dressing up instead of wearing my trademark jeans and converse every day. She hadn't managed to convince me.

Finally, I took a look in the mirror and smiled at my reflection. Renee would have been proud. As a final touch I added a pair of diamond studs and matching silver chain that had belonged to my mum, grabbed my bag and headed downstairs to wait for Jacob to pick me up. Charlie had already told me that Jacob had rebuilt the Rabbit he drove himself when he was only 15, so at least I had something to talk to him about on the way to wherever he was taking me.

At bang on 7.30pm I heard a car pull up outside and stumbled to the window to peek out. Jacob was strolling up the drive wearing dark jeans and a tight fitting black shirt, looking more gorgeous than I had ever seen him. He was carrying a bunch of flowers too, and I realised that I had never been bought flowers before. My stomach started to churn a little with nerves; I really wanted tonight to go well.

I waited until he had knocked before pulling the door open, to be greeted by his dazzling smile. He quickly looked me over, and his eyes widened.

"Wow Bella, you look… amazing!"

"Thanks" I said, feeling my cheeks burning. "So do you."

We stood looking at each other for a few moments, before he seemed to remember what he was doing.

"These are for you" he told me, handing me the flowers. I didn't really know much about flowers, but they were beautiful.

"Wow, thank you." I told him with a grin. "Come in a sec, I'll just quickly put them in some water." I said, backing up to let him through the door.

I walked into the kitchen, unsure whether Charlie would have a vase in the house, and started to rifle through various cupboards. After several unsuccessful attempts, I found an old fashioned, rather ugly vase under the sink; no doubt something Renee had left all those years ago. I quickly filled it with water and settled the flowers into it, then turned to find Jacob right behind me watching.

"Ready?" he asked, smiling as I jumped a little, having not heard him approach.

"Yep if you are?" I asked him back, brushing my hair out of my face.

"Definitely." He told me, reaching over and tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. I stopped breathing and just stood there watching him, until he grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the door.

Once we had set off we were silent for a while, and I was about to mention the Rabbit when he spoke up and broke the silence.

"I hope you like Italian food?" he asked, glancing over at me.

"My favourite." I replied, smiling.

"Mine too." He told me with a grin.

We were silent again for a few minutes, so I decided to speak first this time.

"Where are we going?"

"I was thinking this little restaurant in Port Angeles because it's my favourite, and then we could maybe go and see a movie?"

"Sounds good to me."

He turned and smiled at me before turning back to the road. "So, how was work today?" he asked.

"Busy, but it went really slow." I told him. "I was pretty much clock watching all day because I was looking forward to tonight." I wasn't sure why I had told him that, but he seemed to appreciate it.

"I did the exact same thing. I think Quil and Embry were ready to throw a spanner at my head, I asked for the time so often." He told me, chuckling. "What do you think to Jackie?"

"She's great," I told him honestly. "She's a complete natural with the customers, you should've seen her tip jar."

"I can imagine" he laughed, and I realised we were pulling up outside a restaurant. "We're here."

He quickly got out of the car while I fumbled with my seatbelt, and came around to my side to open the door for me and help me out. I was really grateful, as my clumsiness paired with the heels I was wearing would've probably left me to fall flat on my face. He took my hand again and I felt tingles travel up my arm from his touch, and I wondered if he could feel the same sensation too. We walked into the restaurant and a girl approached us, probably about my age. She eyed Jacob appreciatively as he told her he had made a reservation under the name 'Black'. She smiled and led us to the far corner of the restaurant, where she directed us to a secluded booth.

"What can I get you to drink?" she asked, mainly focusing on Jacob.

"Could we get a bottle of rosé wine, please?" he asked her, looking to me and I nodded my approval.

"Of course you can, I'll be back in a moment with your menus." She said, leering at him again before retreating. He didn't seem to notice her though, which made me smile.

"So how was work for you today?" I asked him, continuing our conversation from the car.

"Much better than it has been. Collin and Brady came in the afternoon to help out, so it was nowhere near as stressful as it has been. Apart from wishing the time away so I could see you, of course."

The girl came back with the wine and menus, and we both laughed when we realised we were going to order the same thing. The meal was delicious and Jacob was charming throughout, making me laugh a lot. The longer we spent together, the more comfortable we got with one another, and we found that we actually had quite a lot in common. After paying the bill we headed back to the car, and Jacob drove us to the cinema which was nearby.

After discussing our favourite films during the meal, we both agreed on a new comedy film. I offered to pay for the tickets but Jacob refused, buying us a drink and some popcorn to share too. We both laughed a lot during the film and Jacob held my hand the whole time; the tingles still there where his skin touched mine. I noticed his skin was much hotter than mine.

When we left to take the short walk back to the car, I found myself shivering in the cool night air and he put his arm around my shoulders. His extra heat warmed me up in no time, and I decided to ask him about it.

"Jake, how come you're so warm?" I asked him as we got in the car.

"Um… it's a… family thing." He told me, glancing at me wearily.

"Oh. From Billy?"

"Um, sort of. More like my great grandfather."

"Oh." I replied, a little confused but I didn't push the subject. "I've had a really good time tonight."

"Yeah?" he asked, looking at me with what looked like genuine happiness.

"Yeah" I confirmed, and he took my hand in his.

"I've really enjoyed it too" he told me, lifting our hands and kissing the back of mine. It sent a shiver up my spine, which he noticed. "Still cold?" he asked, moving to turn the heater on.

"No, I'm fine" I told him, smiling reassuringly.

We didn't speak for a few minutes, until he turned to me with a nervous look. "My friends are having a bonfire on the beach tomorrow night, and I was wondering if you would want to come with me? You can meet the rest of the gang, and my dad and sister will be there too?"

"Sounds good" I told him, and the tension left his face to be replaced with a huge smile.

"Great. It's a date."

"A second date" I laughed.

"Yeah" he agreed.

We remained in a comfortable silence for the rest of the journey home, still holding hands. When we pulled up outside Charlie's house he jumped out of the car and beat me to my side again, helping me out and taking my hand to walk me up to the door.

"Thanks for tonight" I told him when we came to a stop outside the door.

"Thanks for coming" he told me. We both just looked at each other for a moment.

"So I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I'll pick you up about 6 if that's alright?"

"Yeah that's fine, we'll close up early if all the girls are going."

"Yeah, they will be."

We stopped talking again, but he looked like he wanted to say something else. I was about to say goodnight when he spoke up.

"Look Bella, I know I haven't known you very long but… I really like you. Like, _a lot_."

I smiled. "I really like you too, you're a great guy Jacob Black."

He grinned, then his expression turned abruptly serious. He leaned in a little further to me, closing his eyes as he got nearer. I nervously did the same, praying my breath didn't stink of garlic. The closer he got, the more I could feel his heat, and my body desired his touch.

Finally the distance was closed and his full, soft lips brushed against mine softly. I was careful at first, but I quickly melted into him as he picked up the pace. One of my hands moved up to the nape of his neck, stroking the soft hairs there, whilst the other rubbed up and down his smooth yet hard chest. He brought one hand around the back of my head to pull my mouth closer to his, and I felt the other against the small of my back. My body arched into his, craving his heat and trying desperately to get closer to him.

The soft, gentle kiss evolved, turning more sexual and urgent. I felt his hot tongue urging my lips to part, which they did, and our tongues tangled together. I let out a small whimper which seemed to spur him on more, as he gripped at my back and almost lifted me off the ground to press my body closer to his. I slipped my hand under his shirt, between the buttons, and stroked his chest softly. The skin to skin contact increased my arousal immeasurably, and just as I felt I was about to pass out from the lack of oxygen getting to my brain I heard the door open behind me and the clearing of someone's throat.

We instantly pulled away from each other at lightning speed, and I turned around to face Charlie with a sheepish expression.

"Bella… Jacob."

"Hey, Charlie" Jacob said in a quiet voice. I fought the overwhelming urge to giggle, pressing my hand firmly to my mouth.

"I think it's time to come in now, kiddo" Charlie said without meeting my eyes, and I watched as he walked back into the house.

I turned back to face Jake with a huge grin on my face, and he looked sheepish.

"Sorry about that, I got a bit carried away…"

I cut him off by kissing him softly on the lips. "So did I. I don't know what it is, but you drive me crazy."

He chuckled, stroking my cheek with his thumb gently. "I know the feeling, Bells."

We stood like that for a few minutes; my hands on his chest and his stroking my face, until I heard Charlie muttering to himself just inside the door.

"I better get in" I said, laughing. "See you tomorrow."

"Yeah, 6pm. Don't forget!"

"I would never." I smiled, giving him one last kiss then backing into the house. I stood and listened for the sound of his car driving away before I turned to face Charlie. He was standing at the bottom of the stairs with an amused expression on his face.

"So, Jacob Black?" Charlie asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yep, Jacob Black." I agreed, smiling.

"Well, you could do worse kiddo." He said with a smile, starting to head upstairs. I let out a breath in relief, but then heard him call, "Don't let me catch you making out on the porch like a couple of teenagers again, though!"

I covered my face in embarrassment before replying. "Sure, dad."


	8. The Bonfire:Part One

**All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer, apart from the few I added.**

**CHAPTER EIGHT**

**JACOB POV**

After my incredible date with Bella last night, I couldn't concentrate on anything at work for a number of reasons.

Firstly, all I could think about was the kiss. It was, without a doubt, the best kiss I had ever had.

Secondly, I knew that Bella was only a two minute walk away, and all I wanted to do was run down the street to touch her and kiss her again.

Thirdly, I was super nervous. Tonight was the night I had to tell Bella about the fact that I turn into a wolf every now and again in order to protect my tribe from vampires. No matter how good our date had been last night, this confession was undoubtedly going to cause me a setback.

Finally, I knew there was nothing I could do about it and I hated feeling so helpless! I had to just tell her everything and just hope for the best. Hope that the imprint was strong enough to make her still want to be with me.

If I had driven Quil and Embry mad yesterday, they were ready to kill me today. I was quiet most of the time, but when I did open my mouth it was to share my worries over what Bella's reaction would be. I was just terrified at the thought of losing her. The imprint had been strong for me from the start, but after our kiss last night it had become unbearable.

At around midday I opened my mouth to seek reassurance for what was probably the fiftieth time already, and Embry finally snapped.

"For fuck's sake, Black! I've had enough! Come with me, now!" he shouted, walking to the door of the garage.

"Where are we going?" I asked uncertainly, but following him anyway.

"To see your fucking imprint, because if you say one more word about her today I'm going to regret my actions. Quil's already asked me to rip his ears off so he doesn't have to listen to you anymore."

I was shocked at his outburst, but I couldn't complain. All I wanted to do was see Bella.

In record time we were at the diner, which was much busier than the other times I had been in. Emily and Jackie spotted us, and came to greet us. Emily started to say something but I saw Jackie jump at Embry and they started kissing, and I couldn't handle it anymore.

"Sorry Em, I just really have to…" I started, running towards the kitchen. I spotted her as soon as I rounded the corner, running to her and picking her up in an embrace.

"Hi Jake" she giggled, kissing me easily as I had pulled her up to my height.

"Hi Bells" I replied, holding her tight for a moment before I set her down. "Sorry, I just really missed you."

"I missed you too" she laughed, grabbing my hand. "I'm glad you're here, I can make sure you've been fed."

How could I say no to that? "As long as you give me something to take for Quil, he'll kill me if he finds out you've cooked for me and I didn't save him anything."

"Of course, I love cooking for you guys. Come on, you can help me."

I couldn't cook for shit, so I just handed Bella ingredients when she asked for them. She cooked me and Embry a huge steak and chips each, and we ate in the kitchen so I could stay with Bella while she worked.

"So who'll be there tonight?" she asked as she prepared an order that Kim had just brought in.

"Me and you…"I started.

"…Me and Jackie…" Embry added.

"…Sam, Em and Sammy…"

"…Jared, Kim and Josh…"

"…Paul and my sister, Rach…"

"…Quil and Claire…"

"…Seth and Amber…"

"…Brady, Collin, Leah…"

"…Sue Clearwater, Dad, Old Quil, and probably some more tribal elders."

She laughed. "Is that everyone?"

"Think so" Embry answered. "Hey, are you and Em sorting the food out? Please say yes!"

"Yeah," she laughed at his eagerness. "We've been preparing it during quieter times today, it's all in the fridge. Just need to get all the meat for the bonfire then we're done I think."

"Have you made one of those chocolate cakes Jackie told me about?"

"I've made _three _of those chocolate cakes" she laughed as he cheered.

"So are you looking forward to tonight?" Emily asked as she came in with a new order.

"I guess so…" she replied. "I'm just a little nervous about meeting everyone."

"You've already met most of them" I said, trying to ease her anxiety.

"Yeah I suppose, I just feel a bit…" she glanced at me and chewed her lip before continuing, "…like an outsider." She finished, avoiding my eyes.

"Honey, don't feel like that," I told her, hugging her from behind. "You're one of us, Quil told you that yesterday. I mean, you've only been here less than a week and everybody already loves you."

"And your cooking" Embry joked, finishing the last of his meal. "That was the best steak I have ever had, no contest."

"Thanks" she smiled, still looking awkward. She turned to me then and said, "I know you guys all accept me, you've all been great. I was thinking more about the tribal elders… won't they be angry because I'm not…"

"Quileute?" I finished for her.

"I'm not Quileute." Emily told her, trying to make her feel better. "Nor is Jackie. And Seth's girlfriend is white, in fact she's got blonde hair and blue eyes so you've definitely got nothing to worry about." She laughed.

"Besides, my dad is the chief and he already loves you, so everyone else will definitely love you too."

She relaxed a little then, and turned round to hug me back. "I hope so."

"I know so." I told her, kissing the top of her head.

Embry changed the subject then. "We best be getting back lover boy, before Quil goes all big bad wolf on our asses." He realised his mistake quickly as I shot him a warning glance, but Bella seemed oblivious.

"Yeah, I don't want to keep you from your work. It was good to see you though, I didn't want to wait until tonight."

I gave her a kiss and glanced at the clock on the wall. "I will see you in less than four and a half hours. And I will be watching my clock in the garage until then."

She laughed at that. "Me too. See you later."

After a few more kisses and goodbyes, we headed back to the garage armed with a basket of food including Quil's steak and several snacks for us to curb our appetite until the bonfire. Quil looked angry when we first got back, but quickly brightened when he smelled the food we had returned with.

I spent the afternoon still thinking about Bella, but I didn't worry as much as I had in the morning and I took care not to annoy the guys any more.

As promised, at 6pm I pulled up outside Bella's house to take her to First beach for the bonfire. To say I was nervous was an understatement, but I had a good feeling about tonight.

She looked beautiful as always, opting for a more casual look this time with converse, jeans and a hoody. She didn't look like she was going to be warm enough once it got darker, but I could easily take care of that with my wolfy body heat. In fact, I would greatly enjoy the excuse to get closer to her.

When we got to the bonfire everyone made a beeline for Bella, and she looked a little overwhelmed at first but I kept my arm around her shoulder and she seemed to relax after a while. She handled it really well, it must have been pretty scary to be ambushed by so many men who were well over 6 feet tall.

The bonfire got underway after everyone had got their piece of Bella, and I settled down on a log by the fire with Bella in my lap. I had heard the Quileute legends hundreds of times before so I barely paid attention, choosing to watch Bella instead. She looked completely enthralled as dad and Old Quil told the legends as they always did, barely blinking as she listened intently to every word.

I made use of my hands by making sure she was warm enough, rubbing her back and arms. She seemed to like it, as each time I stopped she leaned further into me, as if prompting me to continue. Sam and Emily caught my eye several times, giving me meaningful glances. I was trying my best to think of how to start our conversation, but I was struggling to think of anything good.

Eventually the stories came to an end, and everyone made their way to the food. The pack ate like animals as always, not even attempting to slow down so as not to scare Bella. Luckily it didn't bother her though, I guess she had already witnessed quite a lot of the wolves' eating habits. When every last scrap had gone we all sat back with full stomachs, and I talked with Sam while we watched Bella play with Sammy. My thoughts instantly went to how Bella would look pregnant with my child, and what our kids would look like. I must have been smiling like a loon because Sam punched me in the arm and gave me a knowing smile.

"She'll be a good mum" he said, somehow reading my mind even though we were in human form. "And don't deny that's what you were thinking about, I know how the imprint works remember."

I laughed. "Yeah, right."

He turned more serious then, speaking to me as the Alpha. "Have you given any thought to what you're going to say?"

"Yeah but I can't think of anything better than, 'the legends were true, I turn into a wolf. Wanna see?' You got any tips for me?"

"Not really, that's pretty much what I said to Emily" he laughed. "A bit blunt, but it was effective. She didn't have much time to tell me I was crazy."

"What if she does tell me I'm crazy though? What if she runs as far away from me as she can get?"

"Jake, you can feel the imprint. She feels exactly the same way, trust me. The power of the imprint, the love of a soul mate, runs much deeper than temporarily thinking you've gone mad."

"I guess."

"Why don't you take her for a walk and tell her now? At least then Em and the other girls will still be here to reassure her if she needs it."

I thought about that. Having all the guys here might scare her even more, but the girls and Sammy and Josh would surely calm her down if she reacted badly. Plus, she trusted Emily. "Yeah okay, I'll do it now. Wish me luck."

"Good luck, bro."

I got up from the log and caught Bella's eye, beckoning for her to join me. She got up and walked towards me.

"What's up?"

"Want to take a walk with me?"

"Sure" she said, eyeing me uneasily. She already knew something was going on.

I took her hand and we walked along the beach for about a mile before she lost her patience.

"Jake, what's going on?"


	9. The Bonfire: Part Two

**All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer, apart from the few I have introduced.**

**CHAPTER NINE**

**JACOB POV**

I took a deep breath, and looked down into her eyes. Usually I loved how small she was, but I figured this would be easier if we were eye to eye. I sat down by the edge of the water, pulling her down into my lap.

"Did you enjoy the legends?"

"Yeah," she said, looking confused by the direction of the conversation. "Your dad and Quil's granddad are really good at telling stories; they almost made me believe them."

She had given me the perfect opportunity, so I took another deep breath and went into it. "That's because the stories are real."

She looked at me for a while, and I couldn't read what her reaction was going to be. She took me completely by surprise when she started to giggle.

"You're trying to tell me that people in your tribe used to turn into wolves to stop vampires killing your people?"

"Not _used _to, they still do. _We _still do."

She stopped laughing then. "So, you turn into a wolf?" I nodded. "Only you?"

"No, all the guys do. Sam, Paul, Jared, Embry, Quil, Seth, Collin and Brady. And Leah does too."

"So you guys are… a wolf pack?" I nodded again. "I knew there was something going on." She muttered so quietly I assumed she was speaking to herself, but my wolf hearing picked her words up easily.

"What do you mean?"

She looked up, startled that I had heard her. "Ever since I got here, I knew there was something going on that I didn't know about. Now it makes sense. When I was at Emily's house she made some comment about the guys eating like wolves, and then completely tensed up like she'd told me some terrible secret. The same thing happened a few times at work." She went quiet for a moment, then seemed to think of something else.

"This is why they all reacted so weirdly to me wanting Kim to paint that wolf in the diner?"

"Yeah, but not just because it's a wolf. It has a deeper meaning than that."

"How do you mean?"

"Well, when we turn into wolves we're not all the same colour. Sam's fur is black, Quil's is chocolate brown, Embry's is grey with black spots. But mine is the exact shade of that wolf you had painted in the diner."

"Really?"

"Yep."

"Can I see?"

I had expected her to say this sooner or later, but I was still hesitant to let her see me in wolf form. "Okay, but I need to get naked so don't think I'm being weird."

"Right, not being weird, just changing into a wolf?"

I snorted as I got up and started taking my clothes off. This wasn't exactly how I expected it to be the first time she saw me naked, but I guess beggars can't be choosers. I took a few steps back and paused, realising I probably needed to explain a little first.

"When I'm a wolf, I can't speak. You can come close to me if you want, but I won't move because I don't want to scare you. Just tell me when you've seen enough and I'll change back."

She nodded her acknowledgement, so I closed my eyes and allowed the strange prickly sensation to take over my body. When I opened them again, I was a wolf. I raised my head slowly to take in Bella's expression, expecting the worst, but when I met her gaze she smiled.

"Can I touch you?" she asked, stepping slowly towards me with her arm outstretched. I nodded my head a little, and she reached out her hand to brush her fingertips over my nose carefully.

She stepped back then and walked the whole way around my body, feeling my bushy tail as she passed it. When she came to a halt again at the other side of my head, she was giggling.

"I've always been a dog person." She told me, stroking my side. I let out a bark and gave her a wolfy grin, which made her giggle more. "This might sound a bit weird but, you still look like…you. I mean, I think if I didn't already know what you look like, I'd be able to pick you out amongst the other wolves."

She stroked me for a while longer, and I really enjoyed it. No one had ever touched me before when I was in wolf form, so it was a nice experience. Suddenly she took a few steps away from me and I panicked, thinking she had finally come to her senses, but she just smiled at me.

"You can change back now, I think you've probably got more stuff to tell me."

I nodded and phased back, grabbing my clothes to quickly get dressed before I sat back down with her in the sand.

"Are you okay?" I asked her after a few minutes of us sitting there in silence, staring out to sea.

"I think so…" she replied, turning to face me at last. "How does it affect your human life though?"

"Well we have enhanced abilities because of it…"

"Like what?"

"We're really fast, have a really good sense of smell and hearing, and we heal really fast if we get injured."

"And you eat a lot." She pointed out, and I laughed.

"Yeah, that too."

We sat in silence again for a few minutes, before she continued.

"So… where do I come into this? Is this why I have really strong feelings for you already?"

"This is where it gets complicated" I admitted. "There is this thing we do called imprinting, which basically means we find our soul mate."

"And I am your soul mate?" she guessed.

"Yeah, we are destined to be together." I flinched, preparing myself for the hysterics. "I'm sorry, obviously you still have a choice, you don't have to be with me."

"And what would happen to you?"

"Honestly? I don't know. It's never happened. But I don't want you to feel forced into anything."

"Well, you make me really happy. Can't exactly argue with fate, can we?"

"I guess not. But you can speak to Emily about the imprinting, she knows a lot more about it than I do."

"Is Emily an imprint too?"

"Yeah all of the girls are imprints, including my sister. I was the last one; it's been nearly four years since the last time someone imprinted."

"So, if I had never come here, you would never have imprinted?"

"Nope."

"Do you think we ever would've found each other?"

"Dunno. But I hope so. Imprint or not, you're the best thing that's ever happened to me."

She smiled at me and snuggled into my side, so I wrapped my arm around her. We snuggled together for quite a while, but then I realised the pack might be worrying what had happened to us.

"Do you want to head back to the bonfire? Then I'll take you home if you want."

She nodded, so we stood and headed back along the beach hand in hand. When we got back to the bonfire all the elders had gone, so that only the pack and imprints remained. All heads turned in our direction as we approached, but I heard Sam whisper something about not scaring Bella off and they all quickly resumed whatever they were doing. I knew the pack would be listening out for us though.

"I completely understand if this is too much for you now honey, do you want me to take you home?"

She looked like she wanted me to for a second, but then shook her head. "No it's okay, I kind of want to speak to Emily for a bit."

I nodded and let her walk ahead to where Emily was, still sitting by the fire with Sammy, while I stopped and sat on the log next to Sam.

"How did it go?" he asked quietly so that Bella couldn't hear.

"Pretty well I think… I mean she never ran off or anything. She actually cracked a couple of jokes."

"Did you have to show her to persuade her you weren't crazy?"

"I showed her yeah, but I think she believed me anyway. She asked to see the wolf when I told her about that russet wolf painting being the same as me."

"Did she look scared? When she saw the wolf I mean."

"No, she took it really well. She even stroked me."

Sam's eyes widened at that admission. "Emily won't come near me in wolf form even now. I guess Bella is good with weird."

"Yeah, I guess so." I agreed as I watched her speaking to Emily. I could've heard what they were saying if I wanted to listen, but I figured I owed her a little privacy after what she had just found out. Emily was smiling as she talked to her though, so I knew she was probably asking things about her and Sam.

"How did she take the imprinting bit?"

"Pretty well. I think she was still a bit confused by it all to be honest, but she pretty much said she still wanted to be with me."

Not long later everyone started to head home, so Bella and I made our way back to the Rabbit and I drove her home. She was really quiet all the way, and I didn't really know what to say to her in case it was the wrong thing.

"If you need time to get used to this Bella, just let me know and I'll completely respect that. I know it's a lot to handle and I don't want you to feel trapped by the whole imprint thing."

She didn't respond, so I just gave her space to think. When we pulled up outside her house I took my seatbelt off to walk her to the door, but she stopped me.

"I think I do need some time, to let it sink in I guess."

My stomach dropped. "Oh, okay honey. Whatever you need. Just come and find me if you want to talk… or not."

She nodded and gave me a small smile, then got out of the car and walked up to the door. She didn't even turn back as she unlocked the door and let herself in.


	10. First Beach

**All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer, apart from the few I have added.**

**CHAPTER TEN**

**BELLA POV**

I had a _hell _of a lot to think about. The look on Jake's face when I told him I had to take some time to think almost killed me; his expression will be forever etched into my brain. I didn't want to spend any time away from him, but it was something I needed to do.

Deep down I had known from the moment I saw him in the diner that there was something not normal about my feelings for him, they were so strong right from our first meeting. It was way too early in our relationship for me to tell Jake that I love him, but that was how I felt and to be completely honest it scared me to death.

How did I know it was real love? I had never felt this way before, but was it all supernatural? Would I feel this way if Jacob wasn't a werewolf and hadn't imprinted on me? I would never know the answers to my questions, and that was what scared me. The imprinting was pretty much the same as an arranged marriage, and I was too stubborn to be told who I should spend the rest of my life with.

But on the other hand, I _did _want to spend the rest of my life with Jacob. I could picture us together, years down the line, with our own house and children and then grandchildren. I would be happy to grow old with Jake, and from what Emily had told me at the bonfire he would be a perfect, faithful and loving husband for the rest of our lives together. This all seemed great, I mean who wouldn't want guaranteed happiness? But he had no choice in it, and that seemed wrong to me. Quil had told me that Jacob had feelings for me even before the imprint, but that wasn't to say he would have wanted to spend the rest of his life with me without the supernatural influences.

The hours ticked by slowly, and all I could do was think about Jacob. I got no sleep that night because I felt as though a hole had been torn through my chest, which grew with each minute that I didn't see my soul mate. When the sun came up outside and I was in bed, still in my clothes from the night before, I made my decision. How could I argue with fate? And if this pain was what awaited me if I spent any more time denying Jacob, I didn't want it.

I ran with a speed I wasn't usually capable of down the stairs, passing a shocked Charlie, and out to my truck. I slammed my foot on the pedal as soon as I had turned the key in the ignition, and sped down the street to La Push, hoping Jacob would be at home.

He wasn't.

Billy didn't know where he was, only that he had the day off work and hadn't been back all night. My stomach dropped. If I had been feeling so terrible all night, how must Jake have been feeling? I jumped back into the truck, not sure where to go. I drove around the reservation several times before stopping at the side of the road, feeling defeated that I hadn't seen any sign of Jacob or the other wolves.

As I was in La Push already, I decided to head to my happy place, First Beach. I parked the truck, wanting to take a walk along the seafront. I took just one step onto the sand when I heard a familiar voice, and my heart jumped in my chest.

"Bella?" Jacob's husky voice came from behind me. I swivelled round quickly and slipped on a stone, but before I could hit the ground two warm arms were around me, steadying me.

"Jacob" I said, smiling up into his face. He didn't say anything, just continued to look at me with pain obvious in his eyes. "I missed you." I told him, stroking his face in an attempt to distinguish the pained look in his deep brown eyes.

He let out a sigh. "I missed you too Bells, you have no idea how scared I was that I would never see you again. I thought you were going to pack up and run back to Arizona…"

I put my finger to his lips to stop him, shaking my head. "I can't leave you, Jacob. I was a bit scared last night, but I can't imagine anyone else making me as happy as you make me. I need you, Jake. I _want _you."

He grinned at me, showing all of his perfect white teeth, then leaned down to kiss me. This kiss was much more intense than the others, and we both gave in to our passion and longing for each other. It was amazing. I didn't even think about how carried away I was getting, I was too lost in the moment, but when Jacob pulled away we were both panting and I had my legs around his waist.

"Wow" I managed between pants.

"Yeah" he agreed, holding me tightly against his body.

I placed my cheek against his chest and caressed the back of his head with my hand, playing with his silky hair. He sighed in satisfaction so I continued, until I felt my eyelids droop and exhaustion swept over my entire body.

**JACOB POV**

I was ridiculously happy. Bella had accepted me, and holding her close felt so right. She was playing with my hair which felt great, and my whole body started to relax. I was lost in thoughts of Bella's hands travelling to other areas of my body, so didn't notice her body go limp in my arms for a moment. When I realised her hand had dropped from the back of my head I looked down to her face. Her eyes were closed and she looked peaceful, and I could hear her deep, heavy breathing. I smiled, but suddenly felt very sleepy myself. No doubt she hadn't got much more sleep than me last night, so I walked back to her truck and propped her up in the seat before climbing into the driver's side.

When I got home, Billy was sitting in the living room. He tore his eyes from the TV screen for a second when I entered, and his eyes widened when he saw a sleeping Bella in my arms.

"I don't think she got much sleep last night," I explained as I carried her towards my room. She would be more comfortable in my bed.

"I think you should probably take a nap with her," he told me, turning to look at me in his chair. "I doubt you got any sleep last night either."

I nodded to him, pushed my bedroom door closed with my foot, then set Bella down on my bed. I was about to take up a spot on the floor, but she shivered in her sleep so I decided to join her in bed. Something about having her asleep in my bed where I knew she was safe had a great calming effect on me. Wrapping my arms around her and smiling to myself, I was asleep in no time.

When I awoke I was very aware of the fact that I was alone. Bella's side of the bed was still warm though, so I knew she couldn't have gone far. I sniffed the air and my mouth instantly began to water at the smells coming from the kitchen. Heading down the hall to investigate, my suspicions were confirmed when I saw Bella stirring something in a pan on the stove. I walked up to her, wrapping my arms around her waist from behind.

"Smells good, honey." She jumped, splashing herself with the sauce she was stirring. "Sorry Bells, I didn't mean to scare you."

She turned to face me, and I had to laugh. She had the red sauce splashed over her face and was wearing an irritated expression. Too quick for her to react, I leaned over and licked the sauce from her face. She smacked my chest, but a second later she was giggling.

"The plan was for the sauce to go on the chicken I'm cooking, not to smother myself in it."

"You taste good." I told her, and she hit me with a wooden spoon.

"Well I'm not splashing myself in it again, you'll have to make do with the chicken."

I sighed in mock disappointment and she turned to carry on cooking, but I spun her back round to give her a kiss. "Did you sleep well?" I asked her when I pulled away after a moment. She never seemed to be able to stop herself when I kissed her.

"Really well thanks. Did you?"

"Yep, better than ever. Think cuddling my soul mate had something to do with that though."

She smiled at that and stood on her tiptoes to kiss me again. "We'll have to sleep together more often then."

"Oh yeah?" I asked, raising my eyebrows suggestively.

"You know what I meant" she muttered, turning back to the oven but not before I saw the blush spreading across her face.

"I love it when you blush" I told her, leaning around her to kiss her cheek. She went even redder, so I chuckled and backed away.

She made a delicious meal for the two of us and dad, who seemed to have really taken a liking to her. He kept looking between us happily, winking at me every now and then. Silly old man.

The three of us watched TV for a couple of hours before Bella announced that she had better be going, so she could get some sleep before work tomorrow. I didn't want her to leave, but knew I needed to get some rest too. Tomorrow was undoubtedly going to be ridiculously busy for us. We had taken too many jobs on anyway, and Quil was taking the day off to visit Claire on the Makah reservation.

After saying bye to Bella, and dodging several awkward questions about marriage and grandchildren from dad, I got back in bed. Bella's scent was still strong on my sheets, so I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep imagining that she was lying next to me.


	11. Chapter 11

**All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer, apart from the few I added.**

**CHAPTER ELEVEN**

**BELLA POV**

The next morning at work I was literally bouncing up and down in anticipation, waiting for Jacob to walk through the door so I could make him an abnormally large portion of pancakes. When it got to 12pm I realised he wasn't going to be coming by for breakfast like I had hoped. When it got to 4pm I realised he wasn't going to come by for lunch either. As the rest of the day dragged on, I was literally itching to see him.

"Is this normal?" I finally asked Emily, having chewed off every one of my fingernails in impatience. It was 8pm and I still had not seen Jake.

"Yeah, at the beginning anyway." She told me, glancing towards me with a strange expression. "It does get easier eventually."

I nodded, but she hadn't made me feel any less anxious. "When does it get better?"

She looked at me, but didn't answer for a while. Finally she looked up at me, blushing a little. "I take it you haven't… you know?"

"What?"

"You and Jake… you haven't…" she gave me a meaningful look, and my brain finally caught on.

"Oh that… no we haven't." I told her without looking at her, blushing myself now.

"Well… after _that_, it should get better. It did for the rest of us anyway. Apart from you and Jake there's only Quil who hasn't… satisfied that itch… for obvious reasons." She said, looking uncomfortable.

I felt uncomfortable too for a moment thinking about that, and luckily Emily seemed to see where my brain was heading.

"It's not like that with Quil and Claire, you've seen them. He's like her big brother or something, because that's what she needs him to be. Sam sees into his head all the time, and he's reassured me that Quil has _never _thought about Claire in that way. But at the end of the day, Quil is a wolf. They have needs, but he doesn't see women in that way. You'll know what I mean eventually, but let's just say they are pretty sexual beings, Paul's the worst. Having sex calms them down and the longing of the imprint isn't so strong, but obviously that isn't an option for Quil and he's never considered it."

That reassured me, after all Claire was Emily's niece and I was sure she would not let Quil see Claire if she thought there was something wrong with it. I had also seen Quil with Claire, and never thought anything was wrong with the way they were together. Like Emily said. They behaved like siblings.

"That's why he's always taking time off work to see Claire; he gets dangerous when he hasn't seen her for a couple of days." Emily continued, confusing me again. "Without the imprint being… satisfied… the longing is really strong unless the wolf sees his imprint regularly. She becomes all he can think about; he can't focus on anything other than her."

"What do you mean?" I asked, wondering how Quil could be seen as dangerous.

"Well once, Claire's parents took her on holiday to Disneyworld. They don't know about Quil's… connection… with her, so they didn't know it would affect him so much just to take her away from him for a week. He couldn't concentrate on anything, and he ended up dropping a car on Jacob at the garage."

I gasped, even though I knew Jacob was okay now. "Was he hurt?"

"Only temporarily, but if it was a customer who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, they wouldn't have the wolf healing powers to keep them safe. That's why Jacob lets him take days off, even though it leaves Embry and him up to their necks in work."

I smiled, liking that Jake was so compassionate. "So is Jacob feeling like I am now?" I asked, realising I had started pulling threads out of my t-shirt. I was finding it very difficult to stand still.

"Probably about ten times worse" she laughed. "Feelings are more intense for the wolf than they are for the imprint."

"So, to be able to get through a day at work, I need to… sleep with Jake?" I asked shyly, and she nodded. "Does he know this?" she nodded again. "I guess I can do that." I said seriously, and we both cracked out laughing.

**JACOB POV**

Unfocused was not a strong enough word to describe my mood today, but it was on the right track. All I could think was Bella. Changing a flat tyre? _Bella. _Replacing brake pads? _Bella. _Repairing a huge dent in a car door? _Bella._

Embry wasn't even speaking to me by lunch time; I had irritated him so much during the morning. _What do you think Bella is doing right now? Do you think Bella is busy? Do you think Bella is missing me? Do you think Bella is alright? _In the end he had told me in no uncertain terms to fuck off, and had remained silent ever since.

Sam had told me all about the longing the imprint brought with it, but I never realised just how strong it was. I had always been annoyed about having to let Quil take time off work to see Claire, but I completely sympathised with him now. If only I could take the day off to see Bella. _Would Embry mind? _I asked myself, before slapping myself internally. Of course Embry would mind, it had only been hours since I had last seen Bella. Fourteen hours and fifteen minutes, to be precise.

Sam had also told me how to ease the longing, but I couldn't exactly just come right out and tell Bella that could I! It had only been a matter of days since we had met, although it felt like much longer. If I suddenly turned round and told her what Sam had told me, she really would run back to Arizona. _Hey Bells, mind if we sleep together? Then I'll be able to cope with going to work without seeing you. _Even in my head I sounded pathetic.

If I had been bad before lunch, I was terrible after. While working underneath an old Ford, I dropped the wrench I was using an impressive sixty eight times within ten minutes. Embry threatened to pull my man parts off so I would never be able to satisfy the imprint if I didn't get my act together. I only dropped it once more after that; Embry was pretty scary when he got mad.

I had worn a watch today so that I could know the time without having to keep looking up to the clock on the wall, but it didn't help because I spent a good twenty seconds every minute checking the time. The damn thing never changed! When the hand finally moved to show it had just turned 10pm, I understood why Embry had got so mad. I was even irritating myself.

Someone came into the garage then, but I didn't bother peering round the car I was working on to see who it was; Embry was closer. When I heard him let out a loud groan, my curiosity got the better of me and I paused what I was doing.

"Jake, I'm calling it a night." He announced, loud enough for me to hear but too quiet for normal ears. I opened my mouth to protest: we still had cars to get through, but then I heard him greet the customer. "Hey, Bella. Jake's over there, think he will be pretty happy to see you."

I practically sprinted to the door and picked Bella up before she could respond to Embry. I held her tight until I realised she was struggling to breathe.

"I missed you, Bells." I told her, giving her a quick kiss before setting her back on her feet.

"I missed you, Jake. A_ lot."_

I felt bad that she was feeling the strain of the imprint too, but I still didn't have the guts to tell her what we would have to do to ease it. I didn't want to rush her into anything, even if I was desperate to be more intimate with her.

"I'm going home before this gets any more awkward." Embry gestured between the two of us, and gave Bella a quick peck on the cheek before he headed out the door.

"I brought you some food since you didn't turn up to the diner today…" Bella told me when Embry had left.

"Sorry, Bells. We've been super busy today 'cause Quil's with Claire for the day. Trust me, I've wanted to come and see you all day but I haven't even had a minute spare."

"I understand." She said, and I noticed she looked a little nervous and her cheeks were growing redder by the minute.

"Bella? What is it?" I asked, using a finger to tilt her chin upwards, so she had to look me in the face.

"Well, I brought you food. But I was thinking first maybe we could…" she trailed off and turned her head, seeming to look for something.

"Could what?" I asked, not following the direction of her words.

She didn't reply, but suddenly threw herself at me, kissing me passionately and rubbing her little hands from my chest right down to the waistband of my sweatpants. All thoughts of what she had said suddenly vanished and I kissed her back, returning her passion. It felt like so long since I had last seen her, I wanted to touch every inch of her. I picked her up and sat her on the hood of the closest car, never breaking the kiss. She moaned lightly against my mouth, and I pulled back a little to look at her.

"Is there any particular reason for this behaviour? Or are you just happy to see me?" I laughed, kissing her neck softly.

"Well… there is kind of a reason. Today has been really difficult Jake, not seeing you. I don't think I can go through that every day. Anyway, I spoke to Emily and-"

"She told you about the imprint thing?" I guessed, pulling away a bit more.

"Yeah, she did." She replied, avoiding my gaze and blushing.

"Bells… we don't have to do that yet." I told her, worried that we were rushing into this.

"No Jake, I really want to. Besides, if we don't find a way to ease the way I feel when I'm not with you then you're going to have to set up your garage in the diner! I can't go another day feeling like I have today."

"Trust me Bells, it's been really difficult for me too. But I don't want to rush you into anything."

She didn't reply, but reached up to pull my lips to hers again. Within minutes she was laid out on the bonnet of the car, me hovering shirtless above her, and I realised where we were headed. Pulling away slowly, I grabbed my shirt and pulled it back over my head.

"Jake, please?" she said quietly, biting her lip. "Don't you want me?"

"Of course I want you Bella. But there is no way our first time is going to be in my greasy garage." She smiled a little, and I picked her up to carry her towards the door. "We can save that for another time." I told her with a wink, and she giggled.

"Where are we going?" she finally asked when I had carried her across the road to where her truck was parked in the diner's car park.

"My place."

"What about your dad?"

"Hopefully he'll be out. If not I could always kick him out, I'm pretty sure he would comply."

She laughed and rolled her eyes at me, climbing into the cab of her truck. I jumped into the passenger side while she drove us over to my house. All the way I prayed, to any Gods that might have been listening, that Billy was out so we could have the house to ourselves. Someone up there must have been listening to me because when we got to the house it was in complete darkness, and dad had left a note letting me know he was on an overnight fishing trip with Charlie.

Holding Bella's hand, I led her to my bedroom and locked the door behind us just in case Rachel came home. When I turned to face Bella she was already laid in the middle of the bed, so I made my way over to her. Instantly she was up on her knees, pulling me towards her and kissing me passionately. Within seconds all of our clothes were on the floor, and I was hovering over her ready to finally satisfy the imprint.

"Bella, are you sure?" I asked, silently praying once again that she would say yes.

"I came to you, remember?" she replied with a hint of impatience that made me chuckle. I reached to the floor to get my wallet from my jeans, but this seemed to antagonise her even more. "What are you doing now?"

"Well correct me if I'm wrong, but I think we should probably use some protection?"

She shook her head and pulled me back towards her. "No need. Pill." She told me between kisses, and in that moment I loved her more than ever. Without further hesitation I lined myself up at her entrance, and slowly began to push in.

Making love to Bella, I was happy in the knowledge that she was my future. Even though I had to wait a lot longer than the rest of the pack to imprint, I was glad that Bella was the one. Lying in bed with her snuggled into my side afterwards, her cheek on my chest, I blurted one of my thoughts out before I could think of the repercussions.

"I love you, Bells." I whispered, completely disregarding the fact that declaring my love after so little time was probably terrifying to her. She was silent for an agonisingly long moment, and just as I was about to open my mouth to do some damage control, she finally spoke up.

"I love you too, Jake." She whispered back, looking up to my face and smiling. I placed a soft kiss on her forehead, unable to come up with any better way to express my happiness at her words. We fell asleep curled up in one another's arms; me with the biggest grin ever spread across my face.

When I woke up it was light outside, and I was very happy to find that Bella was still asleep in bed with me. Glancing at the clock I saw it was 9am, and both Bella and I should have been at work for the past three hours.

"Shit, Bells! It's 9am!"

She opened her eyes quickly and jumped out of bed. "Shit!"

Even though I needed to be rushing about to get to work, I couldn't help but sit there and watch Bella trying to get dressed whilst in panic mode. When she had finally got her jeans on properly after three failed attempts, she looked at me and scowled.

"What?"

"Come here, honey. Emily will be handling the diner so stop worrying. Just give me a cuddle."

She hesitated for a moment, then smiled and climbed onto the bed. After a few minutes, she pulled away and jumped up again.

"We can cuddle later, first I need to apologise to Em!" she pulled her shirt over her head and scraped her hair back into a ponytail while I put on clean shorts and a t-shirt. "If you hurry up I'll sort you some breakfast out at the diner to take for the guys, that should help get you off the hook."

"Yeah, they can't be mad at me if I take them some of your pancakes. Thanks, honey."

We drove the short trip to the diner in record time, and Bella relaxed when she saw everything was under control. She sent me away fifteen minutes later with a basket packed with dozens of pancakes, a large bottle of syrup and a long, lingering kiss. I walked into the garage with what I'm sure was the biggest grin ever on my face, which pissed Embry and Quil off enormously until they smelled the food. Sure enough, within minutes they were stuffing their faces and had forgotten about me sleeping in.


	12. Chapter 12

**All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.**

**CHAPTER TWELVE**

**BELLA POV**

Jake and I had been together almost a month, and our relationship had moved very fast. We had spent every night together since the night Charlie and Billy were away on their fishing trip, but Jacob usually had to sneak in through my bedroom window late at night so we didn't piss Charlie off. Jake eventually asked me if I wanted to get a house with him on the res, and although in a normal relationship it would have been way too soon, I quickly remembered we weren't normal. So, I said yes.

We wanted to spend our one month anniversary in our own place, so had been looking for a house for the past week. Luckily one had recently come up for sale, less than a five minute drive from both the diner and the garage.

We had been to look around it, and I had fallen in love with it instantly. It reminded me of Emily and Sam's home: cosy and warm with a wrap-around porch and quite a large back garden. It was a little bigger than their house, which Jake said would be handy for pack meetings as they were starting to outgrow Sam's living space. On learning the asking price of the house neither Jake nor I could think of a reason not to buy it, so we did!

Yesterday we had signed the contracts and then been shopping in Port Angeles for furniture including a king size bed, but the hardest part was still to come. I had to find a way to break the news to Charlie.

Charlie had always loved Jake like a son and was over the moon when he found out we were together, but I wasn't naïve. He didn't like the fact that we spent so much time together as it was, so he would undoubtedly have a problem with the fact that I was about to move in with a man I had only really met a month previous.

So here we were: hand in hand in Charlie's living room, waiting to bite the bullet. I had told Jake to let me do this alone, but he had refused. Obviously I really appreciated his support and I didn't expect him to take no for an answer, but I was beyond worried that Charlie would get mad and pull out his shotgun. The thought didn't seem to cross Jake's mind; either that or he wasn't worried about the injuries he would suffer as a result.

Jake squeezed my hand and glanced down at me then, breaking me out of my thoughts. Charlie was sitting in his favourite chair, watching us with a curious expression. His moustache was twitching in a typical Charlie Swan show of nerves. Jake nudged me, telling me to get on with it, but I just looked between him and dad stupidly. He sighed quietly, gave my hand a final squeeze, and turned to face Charlie.

"Chief Swan…" he began, but was instantly cut off by a wave of dad's hand.

"Wait, whatever this is there is no need to be so formal when you've known me your whole life. Just spit it out, Jake." He told him, before fixing his gaze on me.

"Okay well… Charlie… Bells and I were actually thinking about moving in together." He told him slowly, ending with a big smile that made me finally smile too.

"When?" Uh oh.

"Um… tomorrow." He said, and I heard him gulp nervously. Here it comes…

"You bought a house?" he asked me, looking shocked but not as angry as I had expected.

"Yeah," I finally spoke up, my voice small and quiet. "Not far from the diner, so we can both be closer to work. The house is great dad-"

"Are you pregnant?" he suddenly blurted out, shocking both Jacob and I.

"NO!" we both shouted at the same time, before turning to each other and laughing. Charlie joined in with us after a moment, and waited till we had all fallen silent to speak again.

"So this is one of the weird tribal things Billy warned me about?"

My mouth dropped open and I looked to Jake, who had retained his neutral expression but I could see in his eyes he didn't know what to say.

"Yeah, I guess you could call it that… what exactly did dad tell you?"

"Not a lot, just that now you two were together some things might happen that I would find a little…" he thought for the right word, glancing between us. "Off. He didn't tell me any more than that, just the usual: tribal secrets. Strictly need to know. Blah blah blah."

We sat in an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes, and I tried to work out if Charlie had just given us his blessing or not. Seeming to read my mind, he spoke up again.

"I guess I don't really have much choice, but just promise me one thing Jacob."

"Anything, Charlie."

"You take good care of my little girl. You keep her happy, and we will have no problems." He said, gesturing between the two of them. "Just keep in mind that I am chief of police." He added, nodding over to the hook at the bottom of the stairs where he kept his guns. "I can cover things up to make them look like an accident. Remember that."

I was about to shout at him for the threat, but Jake looked down at me smiling and kissed the top of my head. "I would be honoured to take care of your daughter. And I certainly hope she will be as happy with me as I am with her." He told him, ignoring the blatant threat he had just made.

It went quiet then, and I felt like I needed to say something. "I am _really _happy dad. Jake is amazing."

He kissed the top of my head again, squeezing my hand tight, and Charlie actually smiled.

"Then you kids must have some packing to do!" he announced, picking up his beer and turning up the volume up on the TV: our cue to leave. We stood up and I led Jake to the stairs, pulling him by the hand up to my bedroom. Most of my stuff was already boxed, so we spent most of the afternoon just transferring it all to the new house, ready for the arrival of the furniture tomorrow.

I stayed at Billy's house with Jake that night as my bed had been moved to the spare room of the new house. I didn't think I would manage to get any sleep because of how excited I was about moving into our own house, but as always Jake's calming effect lulled me to sleep within minutes of him wrapping his arms around me in the small bed.

The next day we woke up bright and early, ready for an eventful day. The garage and diner were closed for the day so that everyone could help us out at the house, but the plan was for the troops to meet at the diner first so I could make breakfast for the whole pack. Cooking for ten wolves was exhausting as ever, but it was always worth it when the boys showed their appreciation after devouring every last crumb. Finally we made our way to the house, us girls armed with paintbrushes and the men ready for a lot of heavy lifting, not that it would seem heavy to them.

Six hours later the house had received a thorough lick of paint, and all of the new furniture was correctly in place thanks to the boys. We all headed to the diner again for dinner: it was quickly becoming the wolves favourite hangout. An hour or so later I was locking up once again, saying goodnight to everyone after inviting them all over for a housewarming party the next night. They all seemed excited by this, and Sam told me he would send a couple of the boys round to make a bonfire in the garden: a Quileute tradition for any type of get together.

Jake and I walked the fifteen minute journey to our house hand in hand, chatting happily about how much we loved it and how good it was that we would never have to spend a night apart now. As soon as we stepped through the front door Jake whirled around, giving me the eye that I now knew could only meant one thing.

"Ready to christen our _huge _new bed?" he asked, tilting his head playfully and flashing me a cheeky grin.

"Definitely." I replied, already running for the stairs.

"Oh no you don't," Jacob growled, easily catching up with me and throwing me over his shoulder. I squealed and hit his back playfully, earning myself another growl. I loved it when he growled.

Throwing me down on the bed, he stood for a moment and observed the scene before him with a smirk.

"King size was definitely the right choice. You're in trouble now though you know: I have so much more room to manoeuvre."

I raised my eyebrows at him suggestively and pulled my shirt over my head, before lying back against the pillows. "Come on then." I told him in the sultriest voice I could muster, daring him with my eyes. With another growl he pulled his clothes off in an impossibly fast movement and crawled up the bed towards me, looking like a predator stalking its prey.

"You really are in for it now, Swan."


	13. Chapter 13

**All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer, except for the few I added.**

**CHAPTER THIRTEEN**

**JAKE POV**

After an incredible first night in our new home, Bella drove us both to work in her truck as we would need it later to transfer the food to our housewarming party. Bells and Emily were going to prepare everything at the diner while they were at work, which would undoubtedly take them nearly all day as we were expecting all ten wolves and their imprints for the party.

Sure enough when I met her at the diner at 6pm, the two of them had prepared so much food that we had to use the bed of the truck to transport it all. The gang were coming to ours at 7:30pm, so I decided to squeeze in a cheeky shower with Bells before they all turned up.

Not wanting to miss out on any food, everyone arrived at more or less the same time. Sam and I were in charge of the barbecue, giving Bells and Emily the chance to sit back and relax for once. Seth and Paul lit the gigantic bonfire they had created while we had been at work, and I had to stand back and smile at how happy Bella looked. Sam noticed as he flipped the steaks.

"It's going well with Bella then?" he asked in an attempt to sound casual.

"Amazing. I wasn't really a fan of the whole imprinting thing before, but I couldn't be happier than I am now with Bells."

Just then Sammy spotted me from his seat on Bella's lap and came waddling towards us.

"Unca Jake!" he screamed, raising his arms to me.

"Hey buddy!" I called back, lifting him up. "Wanna go play aeroplanes?"

"Yeah!" he shouted excitedly, making Sam laugh behind me.

I lifted him up above my head and ran around the fire with him, laughing along with his excited giggling. After a while I collapsed onto the grass and let him jump on me, both of us giggling uncontrollably. When I looked up to Bella she was watching me with a smile on her face and a look in her eye that I hadn't seen before.

"Food's up guys, no thanks to Jacob!" Sam called out, and the whole pack ran to pile up their plates. I jumped up to make sure I got my fair share, taking Sammy with me. Emily had already got a small plate for him, so she took him from me and I took a seat next to Bella.

I ate with one arm around her shoulders, wanting to make sure she was warm enough. When we had both finished eating she leant against me, her face on my chest.

"What were you thinking about when I was playing with Sammy earlier?" I asked, remembering the new expression I had seen on her face. I pulled away a little to watch for her reaction, and sure enough she blushed a deep shade of red and looked away. "Bells? You can tell me anything you know."

"I know I can," she sighed, turning back to face me again. "I was thinking about what a good dad you would be." She said quickly, looking embarrassed.

"Honey, you don't have to be embarrassed. Remember the day I told you about me being a wolf?"

"Yeah…" she trailed, obviously unsure where I was going with this.

"Well before I told you, I was watching you with Sammy. That was the first time I thought about you having my children. Sam even noticed and said you'd be a good mum. So don't worry about jumping the gun, I was thinking that way weeks ago."

She stared at me for a bit with a warm smile on her face, before grabbing my hand. "Your babies will be gorgeous."

"You mean _our _babies will be gorgeous." I corrected her, kissing her hand.

Our private moment was interrupted by Quil's booming voice, calling for everyone's attention. I looked up to see him standing in front of the fire with a mischievous look on his face.

"Right then boys and girls, the children have been put to bed inside so now it's time for the _real _fun to start." There were a few groans from the guys; we all knew Quil's sense of humour well. Bella raised her eyebrows at me questioning the reaction, but Quil ignored it and persisted. "It's time for a game!"

"What game?" Bella asked, looking a little worried. I would have reassured her, but I was worried myself about what Quil had come up with.

"Spin the bottle, but with an Ateara twist." He smirked. "And there are no excuses; everyone has to play."

He continued to explain the rules involved in 'Ateara spin the bottle', earning himself a few possessive growls from various imprinted wolves.

"Basically, you spin the bottle and you get three choices. Number one: you kiss the person it lands on. Number two: you answer a personal question from the person it lands on. Or number three: take a drink of my granddad's super strong wolf liqueur. Understood?"

The pack gave a general nod, but I knew most of them wouldn't be happy with this game. No one wanted their imprint kissing another guy but we all obediently sat in a circle, boy-girl as directed by Quil, who placed a bottle in the middle of our circle.

"I'll get us started." He announced, taking a seat between Emily and Leah. He leaned forward and span the bottle, and we all watched in silence as it made its way around the group. After a few rotations it stopped and landed on Sam, making us all laugh at Quil''s disappointed expression.

"I think I'll take the question." Quil muttered, seeming annoyed that his little game hadn't gone to plan.

"Um…" Sam thought for a moment, rubbing his chin. "Out of everyone here, who do you most want to have sex with?"

"That's easy, Bella." Quil answered without hesitation, as if he regularly thought about that question. I growled at him in warning, and Bella blushed. "What? She's hot! No offence to the rest of you lovely ladies, of course. Next!"

Leah span next, landing on Quil. "I'll take the shot." She quickly decided, and I had to laugh again at Quil's disappointment.

I then reached over to spin the bottle, landing on Rachel. "I'll take a shot too." I laughed, not wanting to give my sister the opportunity to ask me a personal question. I downed the liqueur and coughed a little; Old Quil's concoction was so strong that it burnt my throat a little.

It was then Bella's turn, and her spin landed on Embry. "I'll take a question, please." She told him, and I shot him a warning glance. I didn't want him embarrassing her in front of everyone.

"How many people have you slept with?" he asked, shrugging at the angry look I gave him. Bella's face quickly turned a deep crimson colour as she answered.

"Two." She replied, looking at the ground before turning to Quil. "I think I need a shot as well now."

The circle went very quiet for a moment, before Quil spoke up.

"Why only two?"

She blushed an impossibly deeper shade of red, but I stepped in before she could answer.

"She only has to answer one question: your rules. It's Seth's turn."

The game continued, and when Bella looked up I caught her eye to give her a reassuring smile. She didn't need to be embarrassed; I was actually really pleased that she hadn't slept around much before me. Eventually the bottle made its way round to Paul, who landed on Bella. I think we all expected him to take the shot; Quil even picked up the bottle of liqueur to pass to him, so when he stood up and stalked across the circle to Bella we all froze in shock.

"What the fuck?" I finally managed to ask as Paul took Bella's hand and pulled her up to stand before him.

"What?" he asked, glancing down at me briefly. "I've never kissed a white chick before." And with that, he leant down and kissed my imprint. My Bella.

We all watched in silence as the seconds ticked agonisingly by, before the angry growl I had tried to hold back slipped between my lips and made him release her.

"Chill out, man. You know I've only got eyes for Rach, I thought we were supposed to be having fun?" he returned to his spot next to my sister, who didn't seem too upset by what had just happened. She reached forward to take her turn, as Bella sat back next to me and squeezed my hand. It was only then that I noticed I was shaking a little.

"Jake stop getting angry. I love you." She laughed, rubbing the back of my hand with her thumb soothingly.

"Sorry." I finally mumbled, breaking the death glare I was fixing on Paul. "I think it's the imprint… my wolf is really possessive."

The game continued and I eased up a little when Embry kissed Leah, and then Leah kissed Jackie. The tension that Paul had created within the group soon lifted, and we all laughed together a lot during the rest of the game.

A little after one in the morning, everyone started to make their way home. Sammy had started crying in the house so Sam and Emily went first to get him to his own bed. Embry and Paul followed soon after, having to carry their imprints because they were too drunk to walk. Kim had fallen asleep so Jared had to attempt to carry both his son and his imprint without disturbing either of them, and Bella looked as though she was about to fall asleep herself so I carried her upstairs to put her to bed. When I got back downstairs the rest of the gang had gone except for Quil, who had invited himself to stay in the guest room.

After cleaning up a little in the garden and putting out what was left of the fire, I headed upstairs to join Bella in our bed. I was beyond happy in that moment; being able to sleep with Bella in my arms every night was more than I could have dreamed about just a month ago. I just prayed that my happiness would last.


	14. Chapter 14

**CHAPTER FOURTEEN**

**BELLA POV**

Jacob and I had been living together on the res for three months, and I was so happy. Charlie and I were closer than we had ever been, business was great at the diner, my new friends were the best I had ever had, and my relationship with Jacob was incredible.

Even though we were both so busy; me with the diner and Jake with the garage, he always made time for us to spend together. We had settled into quite a routine; Mondays I cooked for Charlie and Billy at our place, Tuesdays Jake and I had a movie night at home, Wednesdays we would babysit for Sam and Emily, Thursdays Jake would take me out somewhere, and the weekends were usually spent with the pack.

I was at the diner with the girls one day when Jake came bursting in, looking worried. His eyes quickly scanned the room before settling on me.

"Jake? What's happened?" I asked as he approached, instantly feeling his anguish through the bond of the imprint.

"It's my sister Rebecca… she's been in a car crash." He told me, sitting down on a chair at the side of me.

"Oh God, is she alright?" I asked, wrapping my arms around his head and pulling him close to me.

"It's not looking good, she's in a coma." He replied, still not looking up at me. "I've got to go to Hawaii Bells, I can't stay here when I don't know if she's going to make it…"

"Of course you need to go to her, do you need me to do anything? Book a flight or…"

He shook his head. "Billy's sorted everything, Rachel's packing a bag then Paul's taking us to the airport. He should be here any minute."

I nodded, pulling him up to stand and then leading him out to the car park to wait for Paul. When his black truck parked up beside us, Jake looked at me with a worried look.

"Will you come with me?"

I thought about it for a second, but I instantly knew my answer. I really didn't want to be away from him for any length of time, but it wasn't my place to involve myself in his family business.

"I can't Jake, you need to be there for your dad and Rach. I'll keep an eye on things here till you get back." I told him, and he smiled a little and nodded.

"I love you, Bells."

"I love you, Jake. Now get going, and make sure you tell Rebecca I said hi when she comes round!"

He laughed quietly, pulling me close to him and kissing the top of my head. "I'll miss you Bells, make sure you stay out of trouble while I'm gone."

"I will. And you make sure you call me as soon as you get there."

He nodded, kissed me again and then pulled away with a sad look. I stood and watched as Paul drove away from the diner, waving to Jake as he disappeared from sight. As soon as he was gone, I felt my stomach tighten at the separation.

That night I was restless. I went to bed and tossed and turned for hours, realising how accustomed I had become to having Jacob's warm body in bed with me. Daylight came and my alarm clock alerted me to the fact that I had to get up for work, but I felt as though I hadn't slept at all.

My day at the diner went depressingly slow, even though the girls tried their best to cheer me up. Jake called me in the morning to let me know they had arrived safely, and that Rebecca's condition hadn't changed. Hearing his voice eased my anxiety a little, but as soon as the call ended I felt the overwhelming sense of aloneness sweep over me again.

Towards the end of the day, Paul came into the diner and I made him some dinner. I let Emily and Kim get home while I waited for him to finish eating, so that I could lock up and try to get some sleep. Paul had always intimidated me a little, so he surprised me by asking me to sit with him while he ate.

"How are you doing?" he asked me in between mouthfuls of food.

"I'm fine." I answered quickly, and he shot me a knowing look.

"You can't lie to me, Bella. I'm going through the same thing remember."

"Yeah, I guess you are. How are you doing?"

He rolled his eyes at me. "I'm fine." He answered in a sarcastic tone.

I laughed, and we sat in silence for a few minutes while he finished his meal. As he placed his fork down on his empty plate, he fixed me with a serious stare.

"I was speaking to Rach earlier, and she basically said that her being with Jake was helping with the imprint thing because they're both feeling the same way. And I don't know about you, but I didn't get any sleep last night." He looked to me for confirmation, so I nodded. "I'm supposed to be patrolling round your house tonight, but I was thinking maybe we could hang out instead? Rach thinks it would make us both feel better."

"Well yeah, I mean there's no point you hanging around in the garden. We can watch a movie or something." I told him, eager to try anything that might help me miss Jake a little less. "Do you think it will work though? With the imprint connection I mean?"

"I dunno, but I hope so. I've been feeling like shit since I left them at the airport, so I'll try anything if it will help me get some sleep tonight."

"Me too." I agreed. I took his plate through to the dishwasher, locked up and drove us both back to mine and Jake's place. I went for a quick shower telling him to pick a film from our DVD collection, and when I got back to the living room he had already got everything set up and was lounging on the sofa.

"Is 40 Year Old Virgin okay with you? I need a laugh and watching your awkwardness at the sex scenes will definitely be funny."

"Thanks," I snorted as I took a seat, already feeling myself blushing. He smirked, pressing play on the remote.

We didn't really speak much through the movie, but it wasn't uncomfortable. I was amazed to find that being around Paul was actually starting to ease the dull ache in my chest that I had felt since Jake had left. He found the film very amusing, but probably not as amusing as the way I would blush furiously and look away from the screen at certain points.

I must have fallen asleep towards the end of the movie, because when I woke up I was being held by a pair of warm arms that I could easily have mistaken for Jacob's. The only difference was that Paul's hold was not as loving as Jake's usually was.

"Sorry, I didn't think I'd fall asleep." I told him, rubbing my eyes as he carried me into my bedroom and set me down on the bed.

"Don't apologise, I'm glad this worked." He told me, motioning between us. "I'm hoping I'll be able to get a few hours rest now, is it okay if I take the sofa?"

"The spare bed's set up, you can go in there." I told him as I undressed and pulled the sheet over myself. "Will you still be here in the morning? I leave for work about 6."

"Would you mind if I hung out at the diner for a bit tomorrow? I'll help out obviously, I just feel a lot better being around you and I don't have anything else to keep me occupied tomorrow."

"Yeah, that'd be great. Thanks for suggesting this, it really helped."

"No problem, we're helping each other. Night Bella." He said, turning and heading back out into the hall.

"Night Paul." I replied, before drifting back to sleep.

The next few days were hard, but I felt much better having Paul around. We actually had quite a few things in common, which we both were pretty shocked about. We didn't do much, he would just hang around the diner occasionally cleaning up or playing with Sammy and Josh while I worked.

Jake called every morning while I was at work, and then every night before I went to bed. Paul had pretty much moved in, both as my protector and as my friend while our imprints were elsewhere. Rebecca had improved, but still hadn't woken up.

When they had been gone for a week, Paul and I were watching Forgetting Sarah Marshall when we got the phone call we had been waiting for.

"We're coming home honey! Flight leaves tomorrow afternoon." Jacob told me, and I could hear the smile in his voice. "Rebecca woke up last night; she's going to be fine."

"That's great, Jake!" I told him enthusiastically, grinning at Paul as he was receiving the news at the same moment from Rachel. "I've missed you so much."

"Bells, you have no idea how much I've missed you. I can't wait to see you."

"Well I hope you're bringing me a present back, I've never been to Hawaii!" I joked, not really wanting him to bring me anything.

"Oh yeah honey, I've got you a really special present." He answered mysteriously, and I wondered if he was hinting at something sexual. "I've gotta go, but I'll see you some time tomorrow night."

"I'll be waiting." I told him before hanging up the phone. Paul and I watched the rest of the film with huge grins stretched across our faces. I wasn't really paying attention; I just let my mind wander to thoughts of Jake. When the film finished and I got up to go to bed, Paul followed me to go to his temporary bedroom.

"So looks like this is our last night together, shortie." He told me when I had stopped at my door to say goodnight to him. I didn't really appreciate the nickname he had given me, but the more I told him this the more joy he took in using it.

"Yeah, looks like it. I'll miss having you round." I told him honestly. It had been nice getting to know Paul a little over the past week, even though I had been missing Jake a lot. Once you got past the volatile, short tempered Paul Lahote, he was actually a pretty great guy.

"Don't worry; you can't get rid of me that easy. I'm definitely still coming over for dinner at least once a week. Rach is amazing, but she can't cook for shit."

I laughed at that. "I guess that won't be a problem. Night, Paul."

"Night shortie." He replied, bending to place a kiss on my cheek before we both headed to our beds, alone for the last time thankfully.

**JAKE POV**

Now that I knew Rebecca was going to be fine, I was beyond anxious to get back to Bella. We had been apart for way too long, so I was counting down the hours till our flight. Hawaii was beautiful and it was great to see my sister now that she was conscious again, but I couldn't appreciate any of the places I saw without Bella. I decided I would bring her here at some point in the near future, so that we could both enjoy it.

I smiled to myself thinking about how excited Bella had sounded on the phone as I packed my bag. The present I had bought here for Bella was a wind chime made with shells from the beach near Becca's house; I thought it would look nice out on the porch or something. But that wasn't the special present I had told her about.

I had told dad and my sisters about my plan this morning before I called Bella. They both seemed really happy when I told them, and Rachel even helped me out with the details. Dad had been beaming all day, winking at me every time we made eye contact.

When I got home, I was going to ask Bella to marry me. I had been thinking about it for a while, but spending time away from her made me realise even more how desperate I was to commit to her in every way possible. I know the imprint was pretty much my wolf's way of committing to Bella, but I wanted to do it the human way too. Dad promised to give me mum's engagement ring as soon as we got back to La Push.

At about 10pm the next night, Paul was giving me a lift back to mine and Bella's house so that I could set up before she got home from work. I had the ring ready in my pocket, and was more nervous than I had ever been about anything in my life. I had told Paul all about it, and he seemed really happy for me. I was quite shocked to find that he actually seemed to like Bella now after spending time with her; I had always got the impression that he wasn't too keen on her before I left. We drove past the diner on our way and I was desperate to jump out of the truck to see Bella, but I tried to concentrate on the fact that I would be seeing her very soon. After a week apart, another hour wouldn't kill me.

"Good luck, man!" Paul called to me as I walked into the house and he drove away. He had given me some tips, having had the experience of proposing to my sister.

I had been with Bella long enough to know her better than she knew herself. I could read her much better than anyone else ever could, so I knew she wouldn't really appreciate a big romantic gesture. Simple was the way to go with my Bells, and I loved her for it. I just hoped she would be as happy about this as I was.

**BELLA POV**

It was just before 11pm when I got in my truck to head home from the diner, and I was more than a little pissed off. I knew Paul was picking Jake up from the airport, and I expected them to come straight to the diner as Paul knew how anxious I was to see Jacob. So when I saw his truck drive straight past the diner about an hour ago, I didn't hide my disappointment. In fact, I had been ranting about it to Emily for the last hour of work.

"He probably just wants to take a shower so that he looks and smells good when he sees you." She had reasoned. That was probably the case, but I wasn't happy about it. So when I pulled up at the house and saw that none of the lights were on, I reached my boiling point.

Muttering to myself in irritation, I walked through the front door and slammed it closed behind me. Flicking on the light, I headed straight for the kitchen to get something to drink before I went to bed.

"There's no way I'm going out looking for him," I muttered to myself as I opened the fridge. "Can't believe he's not even here to see me, stupid mutt."

I switched off the light and headed back to the living room to turn off the light there too, almost missing the post it note stuck to the floor. I must have walked over it on my way to the kitchen, but had missed it in my anger. Picking it up, I noticed there was something written on it.

"Follow me." I read, glancing around to see who I was supposed to be following. I noticed another small yellow square stuck to the bottom step, so walked over to it. There were no words on this one, just an arrow pointing upstairs. Realising that Jacob must be waiting for me upstairs, I forgot my irritation instantly and took off up the stairs at a run. More arrows on the landing pointed me towards our bedroom, and I found one final note on our bedroom door.

"I love you" I read from this one, pushing the door open and glancing around. As I took in the room before me, I gasped.

Dozens of candles were scattered over the floor and every other surface in the room. It looked beautiful, but the most beautiful of all was the Quileute man laid in the middle of the bed; hands behind his head and a cocky smirk on his face.

"Stupid mutt?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at me but failing to hold back the grin.

"Jake!" I squealed, running between the candles and throwing myself at him. He caught me easily, pulling me flush against his body in a rib crushing hug.

"It's so good to feel you, Bells. I've missed this."

"I've been cold all the time since you left, it was like my sun had disappeared. It's so good to see you." I told him, pressing my face into the crook of his neck and taking in his comforting scent. I heard him sniff my hair and realised he was doing the same.

"It's amazing to see you. You look beautiful." He said, and I rolled my eyes.

"I've been at work since 6am Jake, I definitely don't look beautiful."

"You always look beautiful." He told me, looking seriously into my eyes. "Do you want your present?" he jumped up from the bed, leaving me sat there.

"I was only kidding you know Jake, I didn't want you to get me anything."

"Well I'm kind of hoping that you do want this." He told me, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small black box. Before my brain could function properly, he was down on one knee at the side of the bed, bringing himself to my eye level. He opened the box to reveal the most beautiful ring I had ever seen: a simple white gold band with one diamond in the centre and a delicate engraving on either side.

"Bella Marie Swan, the last week has been like torture for me. I never want us to be apart like that again. You know how much I love you, and I want nothing more than to spend the rest of my life with you. I know that things have moved pretty quickly with us, and I'm not exactly normal… but I want to be normal with you. We have our house now, but I want everything else that comes to a normal couple. I want to make you my wife, I want you to have my children, and I want to make you happy forever. So Bells, will you marry me?"

My brain still wasn't functioning at its normal capacity, so I just stared at him for a moment with my mouth hanging open slightly. When I realised that the silence would be worrying him, I pulled myself together.

"Yes Jake, of course I'll marry you!"


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N **_**I'm not completely happy with this chapter, but it's more of a filler chapter. The story will get more interesting soon! Thanks for all the reviews so far, you're all great :)**_

**CHAPTER FIFTEEN**

**BELLA POV**

Since Jake had come home, we had started spending a lot more time with Paul and Rachel. It was probably more for mine and Paul's benefit as we had grown close during our time together, but I knew Jake enjoyed spending time with his sister. I hadn't had much chance to get to know Rachel before Rebecca's accident as she was always so busy. Her work as an English teacher at the school on the res took up a lot of her time, and any free time she had was spent planning her wedding, which I had offered to help with when I had sorted out my own wedding.

Paul had proposed a couple of weeks before I moved to Forks and the wedding date was set for the 6th July, just under a month away. Jake and I had set the date for our wedding on the 18th July, but the two weddings were going to be very different. Billy was going to carry out our ceremony on First Beach, and the pack were throwing a bonfire party on the beach for the reception. As Jake and I had simple tastes our wedding was all arranged already, the only thing I had left to sort out was my dress.

Rachel on the other hand, wanted a big lavish ceremony for her and Paul. She had booked the local community centre for the day; they were going to get married there in the early afternoon and then there would be a party for the whole tribe there in the evening. She had caterers coming in from Seattle, even though Emily and I could have done the same job for nowhere near the outrageous prices they were charging.

Her reason for not wanting me to cater for the wedding was that she had asked me to be a bridesmaid, and didn't want me doing anything but 'standing next to me looking pretty, but not as pretty as me', as she had put it. Her twin sister Rebecca was coming home to be a bridesmaid too, along with Rachel's best friend Zoe. All three were beautiful Quileute women with the distinctive shiny dark hair and tanned skin, so I knew there would be no danger of me outshining the bride or the other bridesmaids.

We had been to try on the dresses Rachel had picked out last week, and I was pleasantly surprised. I imagined a big frilly monstrosity, but was glad to find that the dress was simple; it was strapless and came down to just below my knee. It was a lovely turquoise colour that reminded me of the sea, and when I had pointed that out she told me that Paul wanted to get married on the beach, and this was her compromise.

Although Paul was the most volatile of all the wolves and didn't take shit from anyone, when it came to Rachel he was just a little puppy. He had done his best to make sure she had everything she wanted for her dream wedding, which was really sweet. I did feel sorry for him sometimes though; Rachel could be pretty scary when she wanted to be.

Because we were getting married so close together, and because both Jake and Rachel wanted to take us to Hawaii, we decided to have a joint honeymoon. The four of us were due to fly out to Rebecca's home the day after our wedding, where we would be spending three weeks in a nearby hotel. Both the garage and the diner were still really busy, so Jake and I couldn't wait to get away for a while. Seth's girlfriend Amber and Kim's best friend Annie were going to be working at the diner while we were away to help Emily, Jackie and Kim. Brady and Colin would have finished school for the summer by the wedding, so they were going to work at the garage for some extra money.

Paul had kept his promise to come round for dinner once a week; he and Rachel joined us for movie night every Tuesday and then I would cook dinner for us all. He hadn't been lying about Rachel's cooking abilities; she was almost as bad as Charlie, but I had been trying to give her cooking lessons whenever we had time. That was what had brought us to the diner on a Sunday night, along with our imprints who were there to test all the food.

"Bella I don't know why you even bother, I'm terrible and I always will be!" Rachel whined, slamming her wooden spoon down on the counter. I was trying to teach her how to make chocolate brownies; Paul's favourite, but it wasn't going so well. Up to now she had dropped a full box of eggs on the floor so we were now standing in slime, and had left the electric whisk on when she had pulled it out of the bowl, so we were both covered in brownie mixture.

"You're doing good, babe," Paul said, wiping some of the mixture from her cheek and licking his finger. "Tastes good so far."

Jake was sitting there with a smug expression on his face; he had tried to warn me that Rachel was useless in the kitchen. He told me that when his mum died, the twins took over all the cooking and ended up giving Jake and Billy food poisoning several times.

"Yeah Rach, you're nearly done now so don't give up." I told her with a reassuring smile. "You just need to get the mixture into the dish then you can stick it in the oven. You've done the hard bit, it's easy now."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Jake muttered, and Paul stifled a chuckle. He was doing his best to support his imprint, but the sight of us covered in brown splashes must have been hilarious.

"So what am I doing now, Bella?" she asked, looking at me with a completely clueless expression.

"The mixture needs to go into that tray there." I told her, pointing it out to her. "Just scrape it all out of the bowl, you can smooth it out after."

She picked the wooden spoon back up and did as I said, earning words of approval from Paul.

"That's it, now spread it all out with the back of the spoon so it's pretty much even."

She managed to get the prepared mixture into the oven without any major disaster, and I told her to set the timer for twenty minutes. Paul and Jake had already licked all of the bowls and utensils clean, so it can't have tasted bad.

We sat and talked about wedding plans for a while, waiting for the brownies to be ready.

"Have you decided whether to pick Embry or Quil for best man?" Rachel asked Jacob, who shook his head.

"You should just let both of them do it." Paul said, looking between me and Jake.

"That's what I said!" I agreed, giving Jake a meaningful look. "They're both your best friends, so you should have them both standing with you."

"I guess so, I just didn't think anyone did that."

"Does that matter?" Paul asked, shaking his head in disbelief. "Last time I checked none of us were normal, so why try to be something you're not?"

We all laughed at that, and Jake finally looked less stressed about this particular decision. "Yeah, I'll tell them I want them both to do it." He finally decided.

"Who are your bridesmaids, shortie?" Paul asked me.

"Rachel and Emily, and Sammy's going to carry the rings."

"Oh so that's what that was. I saw in Sam's thoughts that Emily was trying to get Sammy to walk in a straight line holding a pillow, I thought they'd gone mad!"

The alarm dinged then, and Rachel all but ran to retrieve her brownies.

"They're not burnt!" she squealed, raising them to show us.

"Smells great babe." Paul told her, sniffing the air appreciatively. "You'll be cooking for me every night in no time, thanks shortie." He told me with a wink. I still regularly complained about his pet name for me, but everyone else seemed to think it was cute.

"Yeah thanks Bella. I thought that my future kids were going to have to live with their Aunt Bells so they didn't starve to death!"

"Woah woah woah, let's cross that bridge when we come to it, we've not even got through the wedding yet!" Paul laughed nervously. He had confided in me that he didn't think he was anywhere near ready to be a dad, but I had reassured him that he would be great whenever his kids came along.

"What about you Bella? How many kids do you want?" Rachel asked me, ignoring Paul. "I want four or five." She told me, and I heard Paul gulp beside me.

"I've never really given it much thought," I admitted.

"Jakey?" she asked, turning her attention to him.

"Um… three." He decided, giving me a wink.

"Three it is!" Rachel said, handing out the brownies.

"Wait, maybe Bells should wait." Jake said, and I looked at him questioningly. "Me and Paul won't die if they're bad, but you don't have the superhuman healing."

"Don't be stupid!" I scolded, taking a bite. Rachel watched us all nervously as I chewed, and the boys inhaled, her creation.

Before I had even finished one bite, Jake and Paul were onto their second piece.

"They taste great!" I told her, and she grinned widely. The boys mumbled their compliments through mouthfuls of crumbs, and I'd never seen Rachel look happier.


	16. Chapter 16

**CHAPTER SIXTEEN**

**BELLA POV**

The weeks to Rachel and Paul's wedding flew by, and before I knew it I was helping Jacob with his tie. Billy was conducting the ceremony so Jake was giving his sister away, and I could see he was nervous about it as he struggled with the buttons on his shirt. I sat down on the bed behind him, wrapping my arms around his neck.

"You're going to be great so stop worrying." I told him, kissing his neck. I could instantly feel him relax, and he turned to me with a smile.

"Thanks."

"No problem. Now hurry up or we're going to be late, and Rachel will kick your ass."

We were meeting Rachel at Billy's house, where us girls were getting our hair and makeup done by the professionals Rachel had hired. She had held my bridesmaid dress hostage, ordering me to wait till the last minute before putting it on as she knew how clumsy I was. I would no doubt fall in it or spill something down it if I had it on for longer than was absolutely necessary, so I didn't argue.

A few minutes later we got into my truck, and I dropped Jake off at Paul's place so that he could check on the boys. I carried on to Billy's house, and when I walked through the front door I was met by chaos.

"Bella! It's your turn to have your hair done." Rachel told me when she noticed me walk past the kitchen. "They're doing makeup in here, hair in my old room." She told me, nodding down the hall as a young girl tried to put blusher on her face.

"How are you feeling? Excited?" I asked, and a huge grin that reminded me a lot of Jake spread across her face.

"Ask me later, you need to get ready first!"

I laughed but obeyed her order, making my way down the hall to what used to be the twins' bedroom. On my way I passed Rachel's friend Zoe, my fellow bridesmaid who looked like she was ready.

"Are we all having the same hair?" I asked, noticing the ringlets in her usually poker straight hair.

"I think so, Rachel's is up but mine and Rebecca's are both like this. They're waiting to get started on you."

I speed walked the rest of the way, and before I had even entered the bedroom I was greeted by a woman's unfamiliar voice.

"Are you Bella?" she asked, to which I nodded. "Finally!" she all but dragged me across the room, sitting me down at a makeshift workstation next to another girl. A quick glance out of the corner of my eye told me it was Rebecca, Rachel's identical twin.

"Hey, Rebecca!" I said, trying to turn to face her but being stopped by the hairdresser's firm grip on my head. "How are you?"

"I'm good thanks Bella, completely healed now. How's Jacob doing?"

"He looked a little nervous earlier, but he seemed okay when I left him."

"How about you, are you ready to get married? It's less than two weeks away now, right?" she asked excitedly.

"Yeah, twelve days." I told her, unable to hide my grin. "I can't wait."

"I bet! I'm so glad I could be here to see my sister and my baby brother get married. And I can't wait for you to come to Hawaii; it will be so much fun."

"I know, I can't wait to go either. I know Jake's really excited about going back."

"Rebecca, you're done. You need to go to the kitchen now, they're waiting to do your makeup." The hairdresser beside me told her.

"Okay, well I better go before Rach comes looking for me. I'll speak to you properly in a bit Bella, when all the madness is over!"

"Yeah, see you later!" I called after her, still unable to turn my head. There was no mirror in front of me so I couldn't see what the hairdresser was doing, but twenty minutes later I was freed from her grip and headed to the bathroom to have a look. I barely had time to look over the ringlets when I was dragged into the kitchen for my makeup.

The rest of the girls were ready and waiting in the living room with glasses of champagne; Rachel's way of calming her nerves although she didn't seem nervous at all to me. By the time my makeup was finished, Jacob had turned up with the limo Rachel had ordered to transport us all. He said a quick hello to his sister, then made his way over to me.

"How comes you're still in your sweatpants when everyone else looks ready?" he asked with a smile, pulling me close to him. "You look great, by the way. I've never seen your hair curled like that, it suits you."

"Thanks," I blushed, before answering his question. "I'm not allowed to get dressed until we're literally about to get in the car." I told him, rolling my eyes and nodding my head in Rachel's direction.

"Anyone would think you were known for your clumsiness!" he teased, smirking at me. He regularly called me out on my exceptional ability to fall over thin air. Turning away from me, he called over to Rachel. "Sis, I think it's time to let Bells get in her dress. The guys were leaving for the centre about ten minutes ago."

"Okay, your dress is in dad's wardrobe with your shoes." Rachel told me. "I was pretty sure no one would look in there."

I rolled my eyes again before heading to Billy's room to get dressed. I felt completely comfortable in the simplistic yet elegant dress, but the stiletto heels Rachel had dangerously forced on me were another story. I had been practicing with a pair at home for the last few weeks, usually scaring Jacob to death as I stumbled up and down the stairs, but I hadn't really noticed much improvement. Thankfully Jake must have known this, as he was waiting with an outstretched arm when I exited the room.

"Wow Bells, you look beautiful." He said, eyes widening a little as he took all of me in. He shook his head a little after a minute, remembering what he was doing. "I thought you might want an escort to the car." He laughed. "And don't worry about walking down the aisle; Embry has been warned that he might need to half-carry you."

I was relieved that Embry would be my escort down the aisle; anyone else would have loved to see me fall quite literally head over heels in front of the whole tribe. He had convinced me that he wouldn't let me humiliate myself in front of such a large audience, which was the only reason I had agreed to wear the heels.

I took Jake's arm and we walked out to the rest of the girls who were already waiting in the limo. I actually managed not to trip once, and hoped my luck would hold out for the rest of the day.

Ten minutes later we were waiting in line, ready to walk down the aisle which was lined with beautiful white flowers. The wedding march began, and Jared and Rebecca led the procession towards the altar where Paul was waiting. Next was Sam and Zoe, then it was my turn to walk out in front of everyone with Embry. I cast one last nervous glance over my shoulder to Jake, who gave me an encouraging smile, and we set off after the others at a slow pace. Embry grinned at my tight grip on his arm, but I managed to somehow get the whole way without so much as a stumble. I caught Paul's eye on the way to my position next to the other bridesmaids, and he smiled nervously. I gave him what I hoped was a supportive smile in return, and then all heads turned to watch the bride.

Jake and Rachel both radiated confidence as they strolled down the aisle; I had never seen anything like it. I knew that I would be a nervous wreck on my wedding day; I had been worried enough about having to walk down the aisle today and it wasn't even my wedding! As soon as Paul and Rachel's eyes met, they were both grinning widely and I couldn't help but smile at how happy Paul looked.

Jake shook hands with Paul when he finally reached the altar, which seemed oddly formal to me. He caught my eye as he took his seat, grinning and winking at me. I knew that he would be thinking the same think I was: this would be us in twelve days' time. My stomach leapt at the thought.

Billy went through all the requirements of a wedding ceremony, as the whole tribe looked on in pride. When it came to the vows there was not a dry eye in the house, and I was surprised at how sweet Paul's words were. Finally Billy announced that Paul could kiss his bride, rolling in eyes when Paul grabbed Rachel for a full on make out session in front of everyone. I shot Jake a warning look, and I could tell by his smirk that he got the message. Our public display of affection would not be so drastic; I could just see Charlie's embarrassed face if Jake did that to me!

When they finally broke apart, the whole room erupted with applause along with the loud whistles from the wolves. As everyone moved to congratulate the couple I made my way over to Jake, who was still beaming as he slipped an arm around my waist.

"I can't wait for that to be us, honey." He whispered in my ear, leaning over to kiss me.

"I know, not long now!" I smiled. Jake's enthusiasm did wonders to control my nerves.

"We just have to get through the bachelor parties now, then you can finally be Mrs Black."

"Don't remind me," I laughed. "I dread to think what Quil has planned for you."


	17. Chapter 17

**CHAPTER SEVENTEEN**

**BELLA POV**

Tonight was the night of my bachelorette party, which Emily and the other imprints had planned for me. I was a little nervous, but that was mainly because Quil was throwing Jake's bachelor party tonight while us girls were out of town, and I was convinced that he was planning something stupid. All I knew about what was planned for me was that we were going to Port Angeles: Emily had refused to tell me any more than that, but I wasn't worried because I trusted her. Quil on the other hand, I wasn't sure of.

With his sense of humour I was preparing myself for the worst: we were purposely having our parties a few days before the wedding so that whatever Quil had planned wouldn't ruin our day. I still had visions of finding Jake tied to a lamp post with his head shaved though. Quil had promised me that his plans didn't involve anything too drastic, but I still wasn't sure. The only comfort I had was in knowing that my dad would be there with them, and Charlie wouldn't let anything ridiculous happen. Like Jake waking up the next day in Paris.

Jake and I were in our bedroom getting ready to go out, and luckily Emily had called round earlier with an outfit she had bought for me to wear. The strapless white dress she had picked out for me was actually quite nice, but I wasn't exactly excited to wear the tiara and bright pink 'Bride To Be' sash. All I wanted was to be able to blend in whilst we were in Port Angeles, but this outfit was going to make me stick out like a sore thumb.

"You look great, honey." Jake told me as I studied my reflection in our floor length mirror.

"You have to say that though, you're marrying me in three days." I laughed, turning to face him. "You on the other hand, look very handsome." Jacob always looked amazing even when in his scruffy denim cut offs, but tonight he had made an extra effort. He was wearing a nice pair of dark jeans, with a tight fitting black sweater that defined every muscle in his torso. He noticed my eyes trailing over his body appreciatively, and gave me a cocky grin.

"Thanks Bells." Was all he said, but I could tell he liked the way I was looking at him. "I think it's time for you to go." He told me, tilting his head slightly to the side as he always did when he was listening to something I couldn't hear. Sure enough, a few seconds later there was the sound of a car horn outside.

"Please don't be an embarrassing car!" I muttered as I headed to the window to take a look, making Jake chuckle. Thankfully, it was just a normal looking minibus that was parked at the end of our drive.

"I guess I better be going, then." I said, turning back to Jake with a sigh. "Have a good night, whatever it is you end up doing." I told him as I wrapped my arms tightly around his waist, pressing my face to his chest.

"I will. And make sure you enjoy yourself too, whatever they try to get you to do." He said with a meaningful look. "Just stay out of trouble, and I'll see you tomorrow." He kissed the top of my head and squeezed me tight for a moment, before taking my hand and leading me to the front door. I reached up to kiss his lips, then took a deep breath and headed out onto the porch.

"Oh and Bells?" he called as I got to the end of the drive, making me twirl round to look at him. "I'll miss you."

I smiled. "I'll miss you too. See you tomorrow."

**JACOB POV**

I stood at the door and watched as Bella got onto the minibus, taking a seat at the back and giving me a small wave as it pulled away. I could hear the girls all giggling and chatting away, so I relaxed knowing Bells would be fine. I walked back into the house when the bus was out of sight, checking the time and realising I had to leave to pick up Charlie and Billy. I didn't have a clue what was in store for me tonight, all I knew was that I needed to give our dads a lift to Quil's house. I had no idea how the whole pack had managed to keep everything a secret from me, what with the shared pack mind. All I knew was that Quil had been very mysterious about it all, I just hoped that he wasn't planning on doing anything crazy.

I grabbed the keys to the Rabbit and headed for my old house.

**BELLA POV**

It took almost an hour for us to get to Port Angeles, but by the time we got there I still didn't have a clue what to expect. All the girls were in high spirits; chatting and laughing loudly for the whole journey so I soon relaxed and joined in.

We were dropped off at the restaurant Jake and I had been to on our first date six months ago, and Emily led us all inside. I don't know if she had picked the place on purpose or if it was a coincidence, but I was impressed. We had a lovely meal and the owner if the restaurant even sent us some champagne, which went down well with all of the girls.

Once the bill had been taken care of we headed back outside, and Emily brought us all to a standstill in front of the restaurant.

"Okay Bella, I organised the meal but Jackie and Rachel have planned the rest. So Jackie, do you want to take the lead?"

"Sure thing. Girls, how do you feel about cocktails?" There was a general noise of approval, and she smiled widely at everyone's enthusiasm. "Come on then Bella," she said, grabbing my arm. "Let's get you a Sex on the Beach!"

**JACOB POV**

When dad, Charlie and I walked into Quil's house it looked like everyone was already there. The whole pack was there apart from Leah of course, who had gone with the girls. It looked like Sam and Jared were on babysitting duty while their wives were away, as Sammy and Josh were playing with some lego in the corner of the room. Finally, my eyes rested on Old Quil who was occupying an armchair near the TV. Dad and Charlie went over to join him, as the pack all made their way over to greet me.

"So can I know what to expect now?" I asked Quil, and he grinned mischievously.

"I guess so, now you can't do anything about it. I wanted us all to go and play paintball in the forest but then I realised it might be difficult to explain to Charlie why everyone's bruises only lasted five minutes."

"True." I laughed, imagining the look of horror on the chief's face as he noticed our rapid healing. "We'll have to do that some other time."

"Definitely!" he shouted, his eyes lighting up. "Anyway, it's basically gonna be a traditional pack party tonight; food and a bonfire. The other guys convinced me that's what you would want, that okay?" he asked, looking uncertain.

"Sounds perfect." I told him honestly, glad that he had managed something simple. All I wanted was to spend some time with the guys. "So… you mentioned something about food?" I prompted, looking around.

"Oh yeah, you're gonna _love _this." He grinned, heading for the kitchen. "Food time!" he called over his shoulder, and I heard everyone jump up and follow us into the smaller kitchen. When I walked through the door, I almost began to drool just at the sight before me.

Every surface in the room was covered in plates and dishes of every kind of food imaginable, and it all looked great. I heard a low whistle from Charlie as he glanced over my shoulder, then excited noises from the rest of the guys as they piled in behind us. It was only Paul who didn't seem too impressed.

"Quil, please tell me you didn't get Bella to do all this?" he asked, and I realised that she probably had.

"Why not? She is the best in town." He said, unashamed.

"You asked her to cater for her own husband's bachelor party!" Paul replied, shaking his head in disbelief.

"So? I helped her. Trust me, you won't be complaining when you're eating. I tested everything she cooked, and it's all incredible. Good thing you've already put a ring on her Jake, I would've proposed otherwise!"

A few hours later when all of Bella's delicious food had been demolished, half the party were passed out in various parts of Quil's house. Sammy and Josh had been put to bed, Colin and Brady had overdone it with the Wolf liqueur so were in the spare bedroom, and dad, Charlie and Old Quil had finished off three crates of beers between them and were now all snoring away in Quil's living room. The rest of us had settled out in the garden, sitting round the bonfire so that we could talk without disturbing the others.

I went inside to get myself another drink, wondering what Bells was up to when I heard a knock at the front door. As the rest of the guys were round the back, I went to see who was there. Looking through the window, I saw a girl standing on the porch dressed in a nurse uniform.

"Fucking stripper," I muttered to myself, shaking my head. I was about to ignore her and walk back to the garden, but then an idea came to me.

"Are you the groom?" she asked, giving me a once over as I pulled the door back.

"No, he's out back." I told her, motioning for her to come in. She did, so I led her to the back garden.

"What's his name?" she asked, pausing for a second by the back door.

"Quil." I answered, struggling to hide my smirk. "Quil Ateara."

"Exotic." She grinned, stepping out into the back garden to a group of shocked wolves.

"Quil Ateara?" she asked, and all eyes instantly flickered to Quil.

He looked about to protest, but as soon as the stripper began to writhe about in his lap he seemed to forget that he had hired her for me. I took a seat next to Paul who winked at me, and we all watched and laughed as Quil's amazed expression got bigger and bigger with every item of clothing the stripper discarded.

**BELLA POV**

Several bars and many cocktails later we were all feeling pretty tipsy, apart from Leah of course who burned the alcohol off so quickly. So when we entered a karaoke bar, we couldn't resist.

"Come on Bella, I've asked for 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!'" Jackie squealed, and I found myself being dragged onto the stage by the twins. The whole group got up with us to sing along, Leah even seemed to be enjoying herself much to my surprise. We sang a few more songs before I decided to take a break, so I went to the bar alone. As I sat down with a fresh drink, someone tapped me on the shoulder.

"Bella Swan?" a deep male voice asked, so I quickly whipped my head round to see who was talking to me. My stomach sank as I saw a police officer standing there, waiting for me to respond.

"Oh God, what's happened?" I shouted, starting to panic. "Is it Jake? Has something happened to Charlie at work?" I winced, praying silently that he wasn't about to deliver some terrible news to me. He looked confused for a second, but quickly regained his serious composure.

"I'm afraid you're under arrest Miss Swan." He told me, whipping out some handcuffs.

"Wh-what for?" I stammered, alarmed that I was in trouble. How ironic that I had expected Quil's plans to end badly, now I was going to jail! I quickly scanned the bar for the girls so I could shout for help, and saw that they were coming towards me laughing. Laughing?

"For being too damn sexy!" the cop shouted in reply, cuffing my hand to the chair as I sat there too stunned to react. I didn't have a clue what was happening for a long moment, but then 'Sex Bomb' blared out through the speakers and I heard the girls screaming with laughter behind me.

Oh. My. God. I was going to kill Jackie.

The guy started to writhe about in front of me, seductively unbuttoning his shirt and throwing it to the floor. I glanced around the room, trying to focus on anything but the now half naked stranger who was giving me a lap dance. To my horror I was greeted by dozens of unfamiliar faces, laughing and clapping along to my humiliation.

The stripper started to dance around me then, blocking my line of vision so that I was forced to look at him. I was mortified, and felt pretty sure that my current level of blush had smashed any previous records. Next thing I knew the guy had unbuckled his belt, and a few seconds later he was standing before me in just a red sparkly thong. It would've been funny if it weren't so embarrassing. He pranced around for a few minutes in his thong, seeming happy with the whoops and cheers from his audience.

"OFF! OFF! OFF!" all the girls in the bar were chanting, egging him on. He grinned, tugging slightly at the waistband of his thong.

"For God's sake, please _don't _take it off!" I begged, wishing for the torture to end.

"But… it's my job!" he answered quietly, pausing momentarily and looking hurt. His uncertainty didn't last long however, as he quickly regained his confident smirk and continued the routine. Seconds later his thong flew past my head, and I clamped my eyes shut in shock. I was completely sure that the only man I wanted to see standing in front of me naked was my Jacob.

**JACOB POV**

Quil and the stripper had disappeared into the house while he 'found her money', leaving the rest of us to drunkenly mope about our imprints.

"I miss Bells." I announced to the group, who all murmured their agreements about their own imprints.

"Don't think you want to know what I'm thinking about your sister." Paul smirked, but I just rolled my eyes. I had begun to get used to him winding me up, although I didn't like it.

Just then I heard a vehicle pull up at the front of the house, followed by female voices coming towards the house.

"I am _so _drunk!" one muttered, and then I heard what sounded like somebody hitting her.

"Shhh! They'll hear you!"

"Of course they'll hear me, they're fucking wolves!"

"Yeah, they've probably been listening to us for the last ten minutes."

"Can't you just _try _to keep your mouth shut for a few minutes?"

"Yeah Jackie, it's really not that difficult!"

I recognised the voices of Jackie, Emily, Rachel and Kim, and noticed that all the boys were exchanging glances. I strained my ears to see if I could make out Bella's heartbeat.

"What are they doing here?" Quil asked as he reappeared from within the house.

"Maybe we're all gonna get a striptease tonight." Paul said as we heard the front door open. Thirty seconds later the girls began to file out into the garden, and as soon as I saw Bella I jumped up and ran to her.

"What're you doing back, honey? I thought you were staying in a hotel tonight?" I asked, looking her over briefly before pulling her into my arms. She still looked beautiful, but she stank of alcohol.

"I missed you, Jake. Are you mad?" she asked, looking up to me with bloodshot eyes. "I'm sorry for gate-crashing your party."

"No Bells, I'm really happy to see you. We were actually just saying how much we missed you."

"Did you have a good night?" she asked, swaying slightly in my arms.

"Yeah, it was great. I can tell you had a good night!" I laughed as she managed to stumble whilst standing still.

"Yeah it was _really _good." She told me with a grin. "I'm tired now though, do you want to come home with me? I mean, I don't mind if you want to stay here with the guys. I just wanted to see you for a minute."

"I would've been going home soon anyway." I told her, turning to the guys who were now sat with their imprints. "We're going to take off. Thanks for tonight Quil, it was just what I needed."

"No problem man, but we better still be on for paintball!"

"Definitely. Maybe after the wedding though, in case any serious injuries take place."

He nodded and grinned happily. "I'll get it sorted."

"Thanks Emily! Thanks Jackie! And thanks everyone for coming tonight, I really enjoyed it!" Bells shouted a little too loudly, running around the fire to give each girl a hug. I was surprised to see even Leah reach forward to hug her, and had to smile as each of the guys watched in concern as she teetered a little too close to the fire. I could see Paul was on full alert, ready to catch her if she suddenly fell towards the flames.

When everyone had said their goodbyes, I carried Bells back to our house. She had fallen asleep by the time I reached the front door so I carefully carried her upstairs and placed her gently into bed, pulling off her heels for her. I looked down at the love of my life and soul mate, glad that in three days' time I would be able to call her my wife as well.


	18. Chapter 18

**All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.**

**CHAPTER EIGHTEEN**

**BELLA POV**

"Bella! Where are you?" Emily voice called from downstairs. It was the day of my wedding and I was hiding in mine and Jake's bedroom, sick with nerves.

"Up here!" I yelled back. I heard her hurry up the stairs, and before I knew it she had burst through my bedroom door. Glancing at me; still in my dressing gown with no makeup on, she folded her arms in annoyance.

"Isabella Marie Swan. You are getting married in one hour. _One hour! _And you are still sat here like you've just got out of bed! What are you playing at? Are you trying to make me go grey at the age of 23? Because you're succeeding."

I bowed my head; I didn't like it when Emily was mad. Raising it slightly to look at her, I found that she was already dressed in the knee length dress I had picked out for my bridesmaids. I had chosen a coral colour for the bridesmaids, as it really complimented their skin tone. Her makeup was perfect, and her hair was poker straight with a small flower clipped in one side. She took in my expression, and her face instantly softened.

"Bella sweetie, what's wrong? It's your wedding day!" she came to my side, sitting next to me on the bed and putting an arm around my shoulder.

"It's nothing." I told her, shrugging my shoulders slightly. "I just wish my mom was here."

"Awww sweetie," she cooed, pulling me into a hug. "I'm sure your mom will be looking down with a smile on her face. At least, she will be when you're ready and looking more beautiful than ever! Now, get up! I don't think Jake will want you to get married in your dressing gown."

I gave her a doubtful look, and she laughed.

"Okay, maybe Jake wouldn't care what you were wearing. But you will when you look at the photos! Don't you want to look beautiful?"

I nodded, allowing her to pull me up from the bed.

"Now… because you've left it so late," she said, giving me a chastising look, "I'll do your makeup while Kim does your hair, so go and wash your face. We'll be waiting in here."

I did as I was told, taking a look at the bags under my eyes in the mirror. I had barely slept last night, as it had been my first night away from Jake since he got back from Hawaii. I missed his warmth greatly, and without his comfort I allowed my nerves to take over and had got very little sleep as a result.

"I look like the walking dead." I complained to Emily as I walked back into my bedroom, finding her and Kim setting up by the mirror.

"I can fix that sweetie, don't worry. That's what concealer is for. Now, sit. We don't have much time."

Forty five minutes later Emily and Kim stepped back, allowing me to take in my reflection. My hair was straight, some clipped back at the top of my head whilst the rest flowed over my shoulders. Emily had kept my makeup to a minimum, but thankfully my eyes were now free of dark marks. Having only fifteen minutes for me to get into my dress then get to the beach, I was glad that I had decided to get ready here instead of at Charlie's house like I had originally planned. Charlie was downstairs with Sammy, the boys were all at Billy's house and the girls were helping to set up at the beach. When I was finally in my dress; a white floor length gown with floral detailing around the bust, there was a knock at the door.

"Bells? Are you decent?" my dad's voice came through the door, making Emily and Kim giggle.

"Yeah, come on in dad."

He walked in with Sammy in his arms, both of them wearing identical tuxedos. Sammy looked adorable in his mini version and Charlie looked very handsome, which made me grin. He paused in the doorway as soon as he saw me.

"Wow Bells, you look… beautiful. My little girl, all grown up!" he said, looking a little awkward. Charlie was like me; didn't cope well with emotional situations. We stood and grinned at each other for a moment.

"Thanks, dad. You ready to walk me down the aisle?" I asked, knowing he was probably as nervous as I was at the prospect of all eyes being on us as we stumbled through the sand.

"That reminds me!" he announced, walking towards Emily and handing Sammy over to her. "I have something for you Bells, I suppose you can count it as something old and something blue."

He reached into his jacket pocket, pulling out a small black box. "This was your Grandma Swan's. Your mother wore it for our wedding; she had the sapphires set into it to match our colour scheme." He told me, opening the box to reveal a beautiful silver hair grip, set with what looked like sapphires and diamonds. "I guess this is your first family heir loom."

I simply smiled at him, unable to find the words as Kim took the comb from the box, placing it neatly into my hair. "Thanks dad, that's great." I finally told him, trying my best not to choke up and ruin Emily's makeup.

He looked uncomfortable for a minute and his moustache twitched as though he too was trying not to cry, but then he glanced at his watch and brought us all back to reality. "We really need to get going Bells, Jake and everyone will be there by now."

I nodded, taking a deep breath and following him from the room. Charlie was driving us to the beach in his cruiser; I had refused anything fancier. Sure enough when he pulled up by the diner, I could see all of the guests were ready and awaiting our arrival. Emily walked ahead of us to let Billy know we had arrived, and before I could even have the chance to panic Quil and Embry had joined Emily and Kim, and were walking down the aisle in pairs with Sammy leading.

"You ready, kiddo?" Charlie asked, glancing down at me with a concerned look.

I was literally shaking. I glanced around me, taking in the breath taking backdrop for our wedding. The sun was just setting, so the sky was a beautiful collection of orange and red hues. The sun reminded me of Jake, which instantly calmed my nerves a little.

"Sure, just don't let me fall." I finally told him, trying to sound light hearted but feeling completely serious. I heard him chuckle, then we were off.

I felt all eyes on me, but didn't dare look around at my guests in case it made me lose my balance, or my nerve. I fixed my eyes on the floor to concentrate on my steps, but I felt something drawing my eyes up towards the altar. When my eyes had ventured high enough, my gaze met Jake's. His face was lit up with the smile that made me feel like I was staring at the sun, and any worries I held inside instantly vanished. I grinned back like a loon, walking a little faster so that I could reach the man I loved quicker, never breaking our eye contact. He looked gorgeous in his black suit, and the way his love-filled eyes fixed on me as I finally stood before him made me feel like the luckiest girl in the world.

**JACOB POV**

"You nervous?" Embry asked me, watching me pace back and forth across Billy's small living room.

"Not nervous, just… impatient I guess." I told him, continuing my steps. "I just can't wait to see Bells." I had missed her _a lot _last night. Sleeping in my old bed at dad's house without Bella's warm body by my side had hardly been relaxing.

"You'll see her soon, man. Just chill out for a bit!" he laughed, shoving me to sit down on the couch opposite him.

"Where's Quil?" I asked, trying to change the subject so that I could calm down a little.

"Coming with Paul. He needed someone to help him with his tie." Embry laughed, and I joined in. The thought of Quil standing there clueless with a tie in his hand managed to calm me down at last.

An hour later after poking fun at Quil, we were all gathered at the beach waiting for Bells to arrive with Charlie and the girls. I was practically bouncing up and down at the thought that I would be seeing my Bells sometime soon.

"Jake, can I talk to you?" Quil asked, looking serious. My stomach instantly dropped; Quil was never this serious.

"What is it? Bells hasn't ran away has she?" I asked, praying it wasn't true. I knew Bella would never leave me, but his expression had me panicking.

"Of course she hasn't, well not as far as I know anyway." He told me, easing my worry a little. "I just want to have a chat before Bella gets here."

I nodded, allowing him to lead me away from the rest of the congregation. "What's up?" I asked him finally when we were out of hearing distance.

"I just wanted to say, that I've really enjoyed being your best friend over the years Jake. I know Bella is your priority now, which is great, but I just want you to know that… I'll miss you dude."

I stared at him for an awkwardly long time, before starting to laugh.

"I'm not dying Quil, I'm just getting married!" I laughed in disbelief.

"I know but, things change. I won't see you as much." He replied, completely serious still.

"You'll see me every day, moron!" I pointed out, laughing harder. "We work together, we patrol together, you even spend half your free time at our house so Bells will cook for you! Do you need me to go on?" he shrugged, then a grin spread across his face.

"I can still come round for food?" he asked, and I nodded.

"Yes Quil, you can still come and pester Bella for food like a stray dog, even when we are married."

His face lit up, losing the serious edge. "That's all I needed to hear man. Now come on, let's get you married!"

I was still laughing ten minutes later after repeating Quil's words to the other guys, but then I heard Charlie's cruiser pull up between the diner and the beach and my heart began to pound against my chest. I quickly took my position at the altar, glancing at dad who gave me a reassuring smile.

"I'm proud of you, son." He told me quietly as we watched Emily walk down the aisle with Embry, then Kim with Quil.

Finally Charlie appeared with Bella at his side, gripping his arm tightly. She was looking at the ground, but I couldn't take my eyes off of her. She was more beautiful than ever, although I hadn't thought it possible until that moment. When her eyes finally met mine the nervousness left her face and she grinned at me widely. She looked so happy that I finally managed to fully relax. All the time I spent thinking about Bella over the years; constantly wondering if she could be my imprint after the first time I phased when I was 16. And now, here we were. It was like a dream come true.

The rest went by in a blur: one minute Charlie was placing Bella's hand in mine, the next Billy had finished the ceremony with the words I was dying to hear.

"You may kiss your bride, son."

I quickly pushed any thoughts of kissing Bells with all the passion I was feeling to the back of my mind; I knew she wouldn't appreciate such a big public display after the look on her face at Paul and Rachel's wedding. I leaned down to her slowly, placing one hand on her lower back and one on the side of her face. I slowly and gently pressed my lips to hers, kissing her in the most loving way I could. When I pulled away she seemed pleased that I had not gone over the top, like Paul had.

"I love you, Mrs Black." I told her with a grin, vaguely aware of the applause all around us.

"I love you too, Mr Black."

The bonfire we had for our wedding reception went just like any other pack party; lots of drinking, lots of laughs, and because Charlie was there, lots of awkward moments when someone would slip up and mention something that he wouldn't understand. Billy spent a lot of the night making excuses and covering up for us, and luckily Charlie was too drunk to notice the blatant lies.

Bella and I spent the entire evening glued to each other; I was just too happy to let her go. When it got really late and people started to leave, I decided it was time Bella and I were alone.

"We're gonna get going guys, we still have some packing to do and we have an early start tomorrow." I announced, winking at Bella. I knew only too well that Bella had packed for both of us over a week ago, but she followed my lead.

"Yeah, I really need to finish packing before we can go to bed." She said, smiling innocently.

"Is that what they're calling it these days?" Paul smirked, raising an eyebrow.

"We actually have some packing to do too, Paul." Rachel said, pulling him to his feet. I couldn't tell if she had caught on to what we were actually talking about, but I really didn't want to know if she had.

"Night guys." I smirked, giving each of the girls a kiss as Bells said goodbye to everyone.

"Thanks for making our day perfect." She told everyone sweetly, making her way back to me and taking my hand. "And just to warn you Rach, I'll probably be in a bad mood tomorrow. I don't think we're going to get much sleep tonight."

The group erupted into wolf whistles and Quil shouted something about Bella being a sex kitten, and she blushed furiously. "You know I didn't mean it like that."

"Yeah yeah shortie, just make sure you can tear yourself away from the bedroom for 7am." Paul laughed, as we started to make our way across the beach to our house.

"See you all in three weeks!" I called over my shoulder. I decided Bella's pace wasn't quick enough for my liking, so I picked her up and ran with her back to the house. I set her down at the end of the drive and let her walk up to the porch, but then I swept her up into my arms again to carry her through the front door bridal style.

"Jake!" she squeaked, giggling as I stepped sideways through the door so as not to bang her head on the frame.

"What, Mrs Black?"

"I love it when you say that." She giggled, reaching up to kiss me.

"Well I love being able to say it." I told her, kissing her back. "I think we need to go and practice what we're going to be doing every day on our honeymoon, what do you think?"

She pretended to think it over for a moment, before looking at me with a seductive look on her face. "I've been thinking about getting you into bed since I first saw you in that suit."

"You should've said, we could've skipped the reception." I teased, before sprinting to our bedroom with her still in my arms.


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N _Thank you so much to everyone who has taken the time to review the story, and thanks to all of you for adding the story to your favourites or alerts! I think I've replied to all the reviews now; I aplologise if I missed you! I'm trying to update every few days as I have a few other ideas that I can't wait to work on. Hope you enjoy!_**

**_*Has now been amended, thank you to melanieintn for being far more observant than I am!_**

**All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.**

**CHAPTER NINETEEN**

**BELLA POV**

As promised, Paul pulled up outside our house at 7 o'clock sharp the next morning with Rachel and Rebecca. Jake had warned me that Paul was known for his punctuality, so we were ready and waiting by the door when he arrived. I tried to take my own bag to the truck but Jake was having none of it, easily lifting both our suitcases with one hand and striding ahead of me down the drive as I locked up. By the time I caught up with him the bags were already in the bed of the truck, and Jake was waiting to give me a hand into the cab. Luckily Paul's truck had enough seats for the five of us, so we didn't have to spend the hour's drive in the cab getting wet through from the typical Washington rain.

"Say bye to this kind of weather, Bells!" Jake told me happily as we drove through Forks. "You'll not see any rain while we're in Hawaii."

"It'll definitely be a nice change." I replied, thinking of the sun and how much I had missed it since I had left Arizona six months before.

"Don't get your hopes up though shortie, I don't think you'll be getting much of a tan." Paul laughed from the driver's seat, and I was tempted to reach over and hit him even though I knew it wouldn't have much effect.

"I hope you're not going to be as irritating as usual all the way to Hawaii." I muttered with a smile.

"Nope, I'm aiming for twice as irritating." He retorted with a shit eating grin, showing me each one of his sparkling white teeth.

"I'm putting my earphones in now; let me know when we're in Hawaii." Rachel said with an exasperated sigh, making the rest of us giggle. The journey to the airport went really quickly thanks to Rebecca's stories about Hawaii, and what we would be able to do while we were there.

A few hours later we were in the air, and the flight was going pretty smoothly to say that I was travelling with two impatient werewolves. Jake and the twins were all asleep, and I was watching a film called Marley and Me so that I didn't have to listen to Paul's constant teasing for the whole flight. He was sitting across the aisle from me, and I suddenly noticed him moving his arms about out of the corner of my eye, so with a sigh I turned to face him.

As soon as I saw his expression I knew it wasn't good. His eyes were wide and his mouth was moving really fast, but I couldn't hear what he was screaming because of my earphones. I froze in panic as I watched him waving his arms about in a mad frenzy, but my heart sped up to an impossible rate. I instantly thought the plane was going down, so I ripped the earphones away from my ears to wake Jake up and tell him I loved him. But instead of being met by the sound of panic I had expected, all I could hear was… nothing. The plane was almost silent.

I looked back at Paul in shock, and he was laughing so hard that I was sure he was about to do himself some serious internal damage. He snorted so loudly that he woke Jake up from the other side of me, who rubbed his eyes groggily and stared at Paul for a second.

"Oh Bells, please tell me you didn't fall for that!" he laughed, somehow reading the situation. I just stared at him open mouthed, before blushing in a mixture of embarrassment and annoyance. Paul had managed to trick me.

"You- complete- _jerk_!" I whisper shouted to him, annoyed with myself more than anything for letting him get me so good. He said nothing; I don't think he could have got a word out with all the laughing he was doing. I was surprised he was even still breathing.

"Awww, honey!" Jake cooed, pulling me into his side and wrapping his arms around me. "Did he scare you?" he was trying to calm me down, but I could hear the smile in his voice.

"Of course he scared me! I thought we were going to die, I was about to wake you up and tell you I love you!"

He laughed and lowered his voice so that only I, and probably Paul, could hear. "You do know we wouldn't die, right?"

"You might not, but us girls would!" I answered angrily. "Then what would you do?"

"We wouldn't let anything like that happen to you, Bells." He answered with a sweet smile. "So I don't even need to consider what I'd do."

"And how exactly are you expecting to save me from a plane crash?" I asked him, so low that a normal person wouldn't have been able to hear me.

"We have our ways." He answered mysteriously, winking at me and sitting back with a smug grin.

I shook my head in disbelief and put my earphones back in, sticking my tongue out at Paul as he finally stopped laughing hysterically. It was there and then that I made it my mission to get him back, and I knew I had my work cut out to think of a way to surprise a werewolf. I would probably need Jake's help, but I would discuss it with him later when Paul couldn't listen in.

When we had landed in Hawaii and were waiting for our luggage at the baggage claim, Paul couldn't resist telling Rachel and Rebecca all about his 'amazing prank' on the plane. He still found it hilarious, even though several hours had passed.

"Don't worry Paul, I'll be getting you back when you least expect it." I told him confidently as I watched a familiar looking suitcase at the other end of the carousel.

"Please," he scoffed, rolling his eyes at me. "Do you even know what you're dealing with? You'll never catch me with my guard down."

"We'll see." I replied with an innocent smile. "Jake, I think that's your suitcase."

The luggage came round fairly quickly, so not long afterwards we were heading out to the arrivals lounge to meet Rebecca's husband, Solomon. Jake had already told me a lot about him, as the two men had spent a lot of time together whilse Rebecca was recovering from the accident.

"Baby!" Rebecca suddenly shouted as she ran towards a tall, tanned man and threw herself into his open arms. I had learned from Jake that Solomon was a professional surfboarder, and I could tell from his well-toned physique. He had short dark hair and dark eyes, and grinned at us all warmly as we approached. Rebecca introduced us all quickly, and then we were being led out of the airport and to Sol's people carrier that was waiting in the car park.

"I'll drop you off at the hotel first so you can get settled in, then I'll come back and pick you up in a couple of hours if that's alright." he told us as he drove away from the airport. "It's only five minutes away from where we live."

"And I'll cook dinner." Rebecca added, which certainly sold it for the boys.

"I hope you can cook better than Rach." Paul laughed, earning himself a glare from his wife. "You're improving though, aren't you babe? Bella's lessons are going well."

She rolled her eyes at him before turning to face her sister. "That sounds great Rach."

A short drive later we arrived at the hotel we would be staying in for the next three weeks. Rebecca had offered for us all to stay with her, but we had decided it would be better not to be under her feet. Plus this way we had more privacy. After a quick check in we found that our rooms were at opposite sides of the hotel, which Jake and Paul both seemed happy about for some reason. I would have to ask Jake about it later. We went our separate ways, arranging to meet in the lobby in half an hour to explore.

"Wow." I uttered when we had found our room and let ourselves in. It was a huge suite and beautifully decorated, with a small kitchen and dining area, sitting area with a huge TV, bathroom and bedroom.

"Check out the bed!" Jake laughed, putting the suitcases to one side and laying down with a grin. "It's even bigger than the one we have at home."

"Yeah well don't get any ideas," I laughed, joining him. "Our bed cost a fortune so we're not getting rid of it until there's something seriously wrong with it. This bed is really comfy though." I pointed out.

"Yeah it is." Jake agreed, turning his head to the side to look at me. "Want to leave the unpacking till later and just enjoy the bed for a bit?" he asked with a wink.

"Why not? It is our honeymoon." I laughed, rolling onto my stomach so that I could kiss my irresistible husband. "Oh by the way, why were you and Paul happy that the rooms are really far apart? Wouldn't it be easier if they were next door to us?"

Jake chuckled, looking at me as if I were missing something. "Well it would probably be easier for you and Rachel, but I definitely don't want to hear Paul and my sister going at it next door. And Paul thinks of you like a little sister, so he was probably thinking the same thing."

I blushed a little and nodded. I hadn't thought of it like that.

That night Rebecca cooked us a wonderful meal with plenty of food for the six of us, but Jake and Paul still insisted on calling at a fast food place on our way back to the hotel. Rebecca somehow must not have witnessed much of the wolves' eating habits while she was in La Push as she didn't quite meet their standard portion size, but that was probably a good thing. Her husband was almost as big as Paul but didn't eat half as much as he did, so she would more than likely have had plenty of questions if she saw what they were capable of eating in one sitting.

By the time we got back to the hotel we were all exhausted, so we said goodnight and made plans to meet for breakfast the next morning. Luckily the hotel offered an all you can eat buffet style breakfast, but I was convinced we were going to end up getting thrown out when Jake and Paul were let loose in there.

The next morning after the boys had almost completely cleared the buffet between them, we headed to the beach where we had arranged to meet Rebecca. Sol and his friends had arranged surfboarding lessons for us girls, which I wasn't exactly looking forward to given my track record when it came to anything involving coordination. Sure enough I spent the majority of our lesson on my stomach on the board, and never managed to successfully stand up. Jake and Paul sometimes went surfing at home, so they took to it straight away. I just entertained myself by watching Jake's sexy body as he stood up on his board, all of his well-defined muscles standing out in the sunlight.

During the afternoon we stayed on the beach, but again I wasn't given the best options. The boys played volley ball while the twins sunbathed, and I sat under a parasol smothering my pale skin with the strongest sun cream I could find every ten minutes. The last thing I wanted was to look like a lobster amongst the bronzed bodies of my husband and our friends; that would look great on the photos I took home to show Charlie.

I busied myself by trying to think of ways to get back at Paul. By the time we all headed back to the hotel to get changed for dinner, I had a few tricks up my sleeve that I was convinced would work.

Once we were seated in the hotel's restaurant, which again was a buffet for dinner, I allowed the others to go ahead of me to get their food so that I could start part one of my revenge on Paul. Watching to make sure he couldn't see what I was doing, I emptied half of the salt shaker into his glass of water and quickly stirred it. Checking that it didn't look any different to our glasses, I hurried to catch up with the others to get my food.

When we had all fixed our plates with food, we returned to the table and I watched Paul's movements anxiously, waiting for the moment he would pick up his glass. Finally my moment came, and I tried my hardest to keep my heartbeat at a normal pace so that he wouldn't notice my excitement. Watching discreetly out of the corner of my eye, I saw him slowly lift the glass to his lips. He paused for a second, and I saw a smirk spread across his lips as he put the glass back down.

"Nice try shortie, but I think you forgot something." He laughed, tapping his nose. Of course I knew the boys had a good sense of smell, but I didn't think the salt would make the water smell any different! I huffed and continued with my meal as Rachel and Jake watched me curiously, and Paul chuckled to himself. I didn't allow this setback to ruin my plans; I was still confident I could think of something to get Paul back good.

Over the next couple of weeks however, my attempts to trick Paul failed miserably. After the salt water I thought things could only get better, but I was wrong.

For one of my attempts, I offered to help Rebecca in the kitchen as she cooked dinner for us another night. She was making lamb curry for us, so I seized the opportunity with both hands and piled Paul's plate high with chillies. Hiding any sign of emotion from my face, I watched as Paul took a bite of his curry, chewed a couple of times, then smiled as he swallowed.

"This is great Becca, how did you know I like my food extra spicy?" he asked, giving me a meaningful look and a smirk as he took another large bite.

My next opportunity came to me when Paul fell asleep at the beach, and I spotted a cat loitering by the hotel which was only a few yards away from us. I walked over to it and picked it up, knowing how much Paul hated cats, and crept back down the beach to his still sleeping form. Except when I got there, he wasn't sleeping, but staring at me with a smug grin.

"Maybe next time, shortie. If you manage to find a cat with no scent and you learn to walk a little quieter."

It was that night that I had recruited Jake to help me with my mission; I knew he couldn't resist the opportunity to wipe the smirk off Paul's face for once. So when we were safe in our hotel room, we brainstormed. It turned out that having Jake's help made things much easier, as he knew how to best take a wolf by surprise. We talked about it well into the night, before settling on something that I was sure would get him. Jake told me to act as though I had given up for the rest of the holiday, so that he wouldn't expect anything.

So, that was exactly what I did. We spent days on the beach sunbathing, and I actually managed to get a bit of a tan much to Paul's disbelief. We went snorkelling a couple of times with Sol, seeing all the brightly coloured fish under the surface of the water. The fish seemed to be scared of Jake and Paul though which seemed incredibly odd to Sol, so the boys made their excuses not to come with us when we decided to go again. Funnily enough without them there, we saw much more of the sea life.

One of Sol's friends even managed to hook us up with a helicopter one day, which took us up into the air and allowed us to see much more of the island. It really was the most beautiful place I had been; much different to the desert landscape of Arizona and the never ending greenness of Forks.

Although we did many amazing things during our honeymoon, the best part of all was getting to spend time alone with Jake. At home in La Push we both had to work a lot of the time, and when we weren't working we usually had someone from the pack with us. Don't get me wrong; I loved every one of the pack, but it was nice to have my husband all to myself for a change. He seemed to share my feelings, often making excuses for us to go off somewhere on our own. We took a walk alone together along the beach every night, and vowed to continue this when we got home on First beach.

I also made the decision to take on more staff at the diner. It was doing so well financially that I could afford to, and that way I could take more time off. When I told Jake this he agreed to do the same, knowing that Embry would also love to have more time off to spend with Jackie.

The honeymoon flew by and before we knew it, we were spending our last day on the island. Rebecca was sad to see her twin sister and her little brother go, but she knew Billy would be missing us. Being looked after by Quil for three weeks had probably not been the best experience for him, and when Jake spoke to him on the phone I could tell he was looking forward to our return. We spent the day at the beach as usual, watching Sol as he was in a surfboarding competition. We cheered him on as he won the tournament, and Rebecca and I cooked a celebratory meal at their home afterwards. Rachel even helped a little, and seemed really proud of herself when everything tasted good.

After an emotional goodbye, as Rebecca and Sol had to work the following day, the four of us made our way back to the hotel to get some rest before our flight home the next morning.


	20. Chapter 20

**All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.**

**CHAPTER TWENTY**

**PAUL POV**

It was the morning of our flight home, and Rach and I were waiting by the taxi for Bella and Jake to emerge from the hotel. I was about to run up to their room to tell them to stop taking the piss, when I heard them in the lobby. Neither of them sounded happy.

"I'm sorry Jake, but I've made up my mind. I really am sorry, but it's for the best." Bella said in a cold tone I had never heard from her before. I glanced at Rach, but realised she couldn't hear them yet.

"Bells?" I heard Jake plead desperately. What the hell could they be arguing about that made him sound that pathetic? I was pretty sure everything was fine between them last night.

"Please Jake, just go. I don't know what else I can say to you."

They emerged from the hotel then, and I could see by both of their expressions that whatever they were arguing over was serious. Bella's face was set to a guilty determination, but Jacob looked distraught.

"Please Bella, I love you so much, you're my world."

"Not anymore." She answered, taking me by complete surprise. Bella had never spoken that sharply to anyone before, and certainly not Jake. Neither of them had noticed us yet, so I spoke up.

"What's going on?" I asked as I walked towards them. Rachel followed behind me, looking as confused as I felt. Neither of them answered, so I tried again. "Bella, what's happening? The taxi's waiting."

She took a deep breath, finally meeting my eye as I stood close in front of her. "I'm staying here. I can't handle going back to La Push, it's just not for me. This honeymoon has made me realise that."

I sniggered for a moment, thinking she must be joking. But then I looked at Jake, who had dropped to his knees on the floor before her. He looked in so much pain that I knew she had already told him this.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, laughing nervously as I didn't know how else to react. "Come on, we need to get going or we'll miss the flight." I told them, nodding towards the taxi.

"I'm not going." She replied firmly, and Jake let out a whimper.

"Please just come home with me Bells, just for a while so you can think things through-"

"I have thought things through, Jake! We've been here three weeks, and I've seen how my life could be."

"But honey, you know I can't leave La Push! My dad needs me, the pack need me… I have responsibilities with the garage. You do too! You have the diner to think about, and Charlie! How's he going to feel if you don't come home from your honeymoon?"

"I'll call him when you've left."

I said nothing, just looking between them as each of them spoke. It was only then that I noticed Rachel's expression: she looked furious.

"You selfish bitch!" she cried, lunging for Bella with her fists clenched. I quickly grabbed her round the waist to restrain her, but she continued to scream. "You've only been married three weeks! Did it not occur to you that you should have thought about these things _before _you married my brother?"

"Well I did have some doubts before the wedding if I'm honest, but I was in too deep to back out of it. Out here I can have a fresh start; it's the perfect opportunity for me."

"For you, yeah. Make sure you look after yourself, Bella. After all, you're far more important than everyone else. Much more important than everyone who loves you at home!" I still had my firm grasp on my imprint, and I could feel her physically shaking in anger.

"That's not my home." Bella said, showing no emotion. "It never has been."

"How can you say that?" Jake asked in that same desperate voice. "You love our house, you love the diner, and you love our family and friends! How can you just suddenly want to give up on everything? On us?"

She looked up to the sky and took another deep breath before answering him. "Just accept it Jake. I'll call you in a few weeks when I know what I'm going to do with my stuff from the house."

We were all still and silent for a long moment, before I decided to act. I moved forward and pulled Jake up to his feet, then turned to my wife. "Rach, take Jake to the taxi." She looked like she wanted to object, but after a few seconds she did as I asked and put her arm around Jake, pulling him to the car.

"What's all this about, shortie?" I asked her in my softest voice, leaning over until I was at her eye level. "Come and get in the car, we've got a long journey home for you to sort out your differences." I took her small hand in my large one and started to lead her towards the taxi, but I could feel she was using all her strength to pull away from me so I stopped.

"No Paul! I'm not going back to La Push."

"But why?" I asked, no longer trying to sound calm. "Explain it to me Bella, because I'm having a lot of trouble understanding what's going on here. Did you two have an argument or something?"

"No, it's not like that. I just want a fresh start, no, I _need _a fresh start."

"Jake needs you Bella! I need you! All of us need you, for fuck's sake. You're family to us now, you are part of the pack. Losing you would be like losing one of the guys."

"You mean you need me to come and cook for you."

"Shit Bella, you know that's not what I mean! Don't you realise how much you mean to us? You could come home and never cook a thing again for all I care, we just need you there. You're our Bella, you're like our little ray of sunshine, and everyone thinks about you that way. _Please, _just don't do this." I could feel my tone turning desperate, but I didn't care. If I could get her home, I was sure everyone could convince her to stay.

She continued to stare at me for a minute, then the biggest shit eating grin I had ever seen spread across her face. "Got ya!" she shouted, beginning to laugh.

"What?" I asked, completely dumbfounded at her sudden change in expression.

"I- got- you." She repeated slowly, over pronouncing every word. "With thanks to Mr Jacob Black and Mrs Rachel Lahote for their Oscar worthy performances." She added, nodding her head towards them. I turned round quickly and watched as they both took a bow with matching smirks.

"Sorry babe, it was just too tempting!" Rachel laughed, and Jake joined in.

"Yeah man, you should've seen your face!"

When I realised what was going on, I felt furious. I turned back to Bella, giving her the most intimidating death stare I could muster. "This was all a big joke?"

"Yep."

"To get back at me for the plane prank?"

"Yep."

I rubbed the back of my head, looking down at her in disbelief. "Damn."

"For what it's worth, the things you said were really nice." she laughed, reaching up and kissing me on the cheek. "I love you too, Pauly!"

I growled at her, still completely shocked that Bella would go that far just to pull a prank on me. "Don't ever call me that again, and we'll call it quits. I'll hand it to ya, you got me good, but I can get you better. Shake hands with me now, and we'll call it a truce."

She looked past me to Jake and Rachel, and I could see them both silently encouraging her to accept my offer. I knew they would both be glad to see an end to the stupid games we played with each other. "Fine." she finally muttered, reaching out and taking my hand. "Truce."

"Truce." I repeated, then dropped my hand and walked towards the taxi. "Now let's stop playing children, or we really are going to miss our flight."

All the way to the airport the three of them giggled like schoolchildren about their 'amazing prank', and I was pissed off. I wanted to be really mad at them for taking it so far, but I was just glad that Bella was coming home. She was like my little sister, and losing her would be one of the worst things that could happen to me.

**BELLA POV**

Although the way we got Paul back was cruel and I felt a little bad about it, I was in a great mood all the way home. Mostly because of the way Paul would look annoyed every time I smirked at him, but also because I was looking forward to seeing Charlie and everyone in La Push. We had been gone for almost three weeks, and I had actually missed feeding all the boys. Emily must have had her hands full while we had been away; looking after the diner as well as the pack.

"I'm starving." Jake announced when we were half way between the airport and home.

"Same." Paul agreed, glancing at me and Rach. "You mind if we take a detour?"

"Why don't we call in at the diner on the way home? You can eat and we can catch up with the girls."

The boys glanced at each other, smirks spreading across their faces.

"Good thinking shortie, don't have to worry about portion sizes at your place."

"You sure they'll still be there Bells? It'll be past 10 by the time we get there."

"Yeah, at least they should be! We open till 11 so if they've all gone home I'll be kicking someone's ass!"

Paul snorted then, sending me a disbelieving look. "What?" I asked, probably a little more aggressive than I should have.

"Nothing shortie, just having a hard time imagining you kicking _anyone's_ ass. Even little Sammy could take you."

"If that's what you think Pauly." I replied, looking out of the window casually. "So Rach I've been thinking, maybe I should revoke the diner freebies from some of the wolves? You're still welcome of course, but I think Paul's gonna have to find somewhere else to eat. That okay with you, Paul?"

He almost drove off the side of the road as he turned fully in his seat to stare at me, seeing if I looked stubborn enough to follow through on my threat.

"Fine," he muttered when he saw the determination on my face. "I think that you could kick anyone's ass you wanted to, shortie."

"There was just one problem with that sentence. Would you like to try again?"

He took a deep breath, glaring at me as he spoke. "I think that you could kick anyone's ass, _Bella._"

"Even yours?"

"Even mine."

"Thank you." I told him, grinning in triumph. Jake smiled at me, obviously proud that I had managed to get the infamously temperamental Paul Lahote to submit to me.

Paul was silent for the rest of the ride home, his face set with an irritated expression. When we got to the diner he jumped out and went ahead of us, glaring at me as he went through the door and closing it behind him instead of holding it open.

"Think you've pissed off the big bad wolf." Jake laughed, pulling the door open and letting me and Rachel pass him.

"Don't worry about it, it's about time someone put him in his place." Rachel laughed as we both walked into the diner. When I looked around, I had to smile again.

Everyone was there waiting for us, a 'welcome home' banner stretched across the far wall above the painting of the wolf. There was a long table set up in the middle of the room, covered in plates full of food. Charlie and Billy were perched in front of the table, seeming to be guarding the food from the pack who were sat around the room with their imprints.

"Bells!" Charlie called out, stepping forwards and pulling me into a rare hug. "I've missed you kiddo, you have a good trip?"

"Yeah dad it was great, I missed you though."

"Don't hog her, Charlie!" Billy laughed as he rolled himself towards us. "It's good to see you back, Bella." He told me as I leaned over to kiss his cheek. "I hope Jacob took good care of you?"

"Course he did Billy, he's been amazing." I smiled, glancing over my shoulder at Jake who winked at me.

Emily came over then, pulling me away from the dads. "Bella! I've missed you!"

"I've missed you too!" I laughed, hugging her back as she threw her arms around me. "How's everything been?"

"Business has been great, no problems." She smiled. "Things got really busy though so I asked my neighbour to help out, I hope you don't mind?"

"That's great actually, I was thinking about getting some extra staff so that we don't need to be here as much." I told her, before saying hello to the other girls. When we had all spoken briefly Quil grabbed me into a hug, leaving my feet dangling half a foot above the ground.

"Did you have lots of sex on your honeymoon?" he asked me a little too loudly, and I avoided looking at Charlie whose blush would have probably rivalled my own. Luckily Embry took me from Quil before I had to answer, slapping him around the back of the head and apologising on his behalf. I was then passed around all the other guys, receiving rib crushing hugs from each member of the pack. I even got a hug from Sammy and Josh, before being able to sit down while the boys ate the mountain of food that Emily had prepared.

We stayed at the diner for a couple of hours, telling stories about the honeymoon and listening to stories about what everyone had been up to while we were away. I noticed Jake and Paul sneak outside at one point, probably to phase as they had been desperate to go for a run for the last few days.

When we all called it a night and headed outside to go home I noticed that Paul was still avoiding me, so I took him to one side while Jake and Rach got back into his truck.

When we were out of sight just within the treeline, I turned to him and found he was avoiding my gaze. Without saying a word I stood on my tiptoes, reaching up to wrap my arms around his broad shoulders. The hug was very one sided for a few moments as he resisted it, but soon enough he had wrapped his muscular arms around my waist with a defeated sigh.

"You're a bitch." he mumbled into my hair, making me laugh.

"And you're an asshole." I told him. He chuckled at the insult, before turning silent again. I pulled away after a minute, looking up at him with a smile as we headed back to the others.

"Love you, Pauly."

He rolled his eyes and muttered to himself before replying. "Love you, shortie. I suppose. Now stop with the 'Pauly' shit or I'm going to have to strip you of your best friend status."


	21. Chapter 21

**_What would a Twilight fanfiction be without a few vampires? ..._**

**All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.**

**BELLA POV**

The morning after we got back from our honeymoon I went to visit Charlie while Jake checked on things at the garage, and I wasn't surprised to find that he had no food whatsoever in the house.

"Let me guess, you lived on pizza for the last three weeks?" I asked, noticing the phone number taped to the fridge.

"You know I can't cook." He replied, looking sheepish. "I went over to Billy's a lot, and Sue cooked for us. And we ate all the meals you had left for us too, they were really good."

"Well I can't cook for you, _and_ Billy, _and_ Jake, _and_ all the other guys, every day. So you will have to learn to cook."

"It's not like I haven't tried, Bells. You know I even burn salad."

"Well… I'm going to _try _and teach you some simple meals." I told him, grabbing my bag and the keys to my truck. "Come on."

"Where are we going?"

"Grocery shopping."

And so I spent the next few hours of my day pushing a trolley, and pulling Charlie, around the local supermarket. It was obvious he hadn't been in here for years, and he wasn't enjoying himself as I grabbed ingredients for healthy and easy meals from the shelves.

The whole time we were in the store I had the strange sensation that someone was following me, but every time I looked around I never saw anything unusual.

While I was thinking about which vegetables I might be able to persuade Charlie to eat, I overheard him speaking to someone behind me.

"Good afternoon, Chief Swan. It's very nice to see you again."

"You're Carlisle's youngest, right?"

"Yes, my name is Edward."

"Right, Edward. You haven't changed a bit since the last time I saw you!"

"I am told that I am blessed with my mother's young looks."

"So, what brings you back to Forks? I was under the impression that your family wouldn't be returning."

"We did not plan to return to Forks, but there was a medical emergency at the hospital that required Carlisle's experience. We are staying at our old house temporarily so that he can offer his knowledge."

"It's a damn shame he didn't want to stay here; he's the best doctor Forks has ever seen."

I turned around and cleared my throat then, uncomfortable that Charlie had gone so long without introducing me. They both turned to look at me, and I saw the boy's face for the first time.

He was young; probably 17 or 18, and he was beautiful in an unnatural sort of way. He had the look of a model, but I could only compare his perfect chiselled features to those of a statue of a Greek God. He was very pale; even paler than me, with an unusual bronze hair colour and strange animal-like topaz eyes. Although his expression only portrayed complete friendliness, there was something sinister about the way he looked at me.

"Sorry Bells," my dad finally said, moving towards me and placing a hand on my shoulder. "Edward, this is my daughter Bella. Bells, this is Edward Cullen. His family lived here in Forks till just before you moved here."

"Hi" I said politely, holding out my hand.

"Hello Bella." He replied, reaching out to shake hands. His touch made me visibly flinch; his skin was icy cold. He brought our hands up to his lips, making both Charlie and I blush awkwardly.

"We best get going, dad. I need to check in at the diner before it closes." I lied, making an excuse to get away from the boy. Something about him made me feel uncomfortable. His eyes were too intense, like he was trying to read my mind or something. And although I knew it was impossible, I could have sworn that he was holding his breath throughout the entire conversation.

"Of course, I do apologise for keeping you." He said politely, still not breaking his unblinking gaze.

"Give my best to Carlisle." Charlie said as we started to walk away.

"I will, Chief Swan."

"He's weird." I commented when I knew we were out of hearing range.

"Should see the rest of the family, they're all a little… odd. All really intelligent though, and Carlisle is a brilliant doctor. It's a shame his wife wanted to move to LA."

"There are more of them?"

"Yeah, Carlisle and Esme, and the five kids they adopted. Well I guess they aren't really kids anymore, Edward's the youngest and he's the same age as you."

"He's the same age as me?" I asked in disbelief. I had never known a 22 year old to look so young, but then again I had been spending a lot of time around the Quileute boys who all looked much older than they actually were. I still struggled to remember that Sam was the only one of the pack over 21.

"Yeah, doesn't look it does he? I don't think he's aged at all since they first moved here when he started high school. Might have one of those hormone things that make people stop developing."

We finished the shopping and took it out to the truck, but when I went to put the trolley back the boy was there in the bay.

"Oh, hello again." He said in surprise, but I had a feeling that he wasn't surprised to see me again. "I meant to ask you earlier, I hear you own a diner?"

"Yeah, I bought it about 6 months ago." I told him, trying to put the trolley in place quickly so that I could move away.

"That's great, maybe I'll call in sometime. Where is it?"

"In La Push, right by First Beach." I told him proudly, but became angry when I saw him turn his nose up. "You don't like La Push?" I asked, daring him with my eyes to make some nasty racist comment about the people who were now my family.

"It's not that I don't like it, it's just a little crowded for my liking. Lots of tourists."

I snorted at the pathetic excuse, and stopped trying to be polite with him. "I guess I won't be seeing you again then, because I spend most of my time in La Push. Goodbye."

I heard him mutter something as I walked away, but chose to ignore him so that I could get back to Charlie. What kind of an excuse was that? La Push was hardly known as a tourist hotspot. And hadn't Charlie just told me that his family had moved to LA? Surely that place was swarming with tourists! Crazy boy.

I took Charlie and the bags of food back to his house, and spent the afternoon giving him lessons on how to make some simple meals so that he didn't always have to eat at the diner. He didn't seem to be remembering anything I told him, so eventually I gave up and decided I would make him an easy to follow recipe book when I had the chance. That way he would have no excuse not to cook for himself.

After saying goodbye to dad and making plans to see him later in the week, I walked down the drive to my truck and found a very short girl with cropped black hair standing beside it. She was probably a couple of years younger than me, and was very beautiful.

"Is this your truck?" she asked as I went to open the door.

"Um… yeah?" I replied, caught off guard. The girl was tiny and breathtaking to look at, so I couldn't understand why she would show any interest in my big bulky truck. I thought she would probably be more suited to some sort of sports car.

"I love it! Does it run well?" she asked, looking at me brightly. There was something eerily familiar about her, that I couldn't quite put my finger on.

"Um no, not really." I answered honestly. "It's always breaking down, but I know a few great mechanics so it's not a big problem." I hopped into the cab, winding the window down as I spoke so that I could shut the door without seeming to be completely rude.

"Oh well that's handy." She said, still grinning widely and displaying a set of perfectly straight, brilliantly white teeth.

"Yeah it is. Well I better be going, I have to get to work." I lied for the second time today, starting the engine.

"Of course, it was nice speaking to you!" she said, smiling sweetly. "I'm Alice."

"Bella." I replied, giving a little wave as I pulled off into the road.

It wasn't until I was almost home that I realised why the girl had seemed familiar. The pale skin, the golden eyes, the perfect features. There was also the way she stared at me, not seeming to realise she was making me uncomfortable. She had to be Edward's sister.

When I got home the house was empty, so I took a shower then started on dinner. Wherever Jake was, I knew he would be back here in time to eat.

Sure enough as I pulled the lasagne out of the oven 45 minutes later, I heard the front door open and then felt a pair of warm arms wrap around my middle.

"Hi Jake." I laughed, trying my best to continue serving the food with Jake's body pressed close against me.

"Hey honey, is Charlie alright?" he asked, nuzzling my neck.

"Yeah, he had no food though so I took him shopping." I told him, turning in his arms and handing him a plate heaped with food.

"Sounds just like Billy." He said with a grin, kissing me on the cheek as he took the plate and sat at the table.

"Have Quil and Embry kept the garage afloat?" I asked, turning to join him with my own significantly smaller portion.

"Yeah, they've done really well. They had Brady and Colin helping out quite a bit, and Seth helped with the accounts side of things. We'll have to go away more often." He laughed.

"I wish! It was so nice to spend time together and not have to worry about getting to work."

"We work too much." He said, and I nodded in agreement.

"It's going to be weird going back to only seeing you when we get up for work and when we go to bed." I said, feeling sad when I realised I wouldn't be seeing as much of Jake now we were back to reality. "I really enjoyed spending time together while we were away."

"Me too, honey." He went quiet for a minute, seeming to be thinking about something. "How about if we take a couple of days every month, just to spend time together? We can go away sometimes, or sometimes we can just stay here and chill."

"And make use of our huge bed?" I added, knowing exactly what Jake was thinking when he thought of time alone.

"I like the way you think, Mrs Black." He said with a wink.

"I'll never get bored of hearing that." I told him, walking round the table to sit in his lap.

"Good. Because that's your name now for life, Bella Black."


	22. Chapter 22

***_Now amended as I missed another detail regarding the vampire smell! Thanks to SandraBR for pointing it out :)_**

**CHAPTER TWENTY TWO**

**BELLA POV**

The week after we got back from the honeymoon was Charlie's birthday and I had planned a surprise party at his house, so I took the day off work to get the decorations up.

Since I had moved out Charlie had let his household chores slip a little, so I got to work cleaning the place up. The kitchen was a state but I was happy to see he had made use of my recipe book.

Once I had finished the hoovering, dusting and polishing in every room in the house, I went to my truck to retrieve the decorations I had brought along. The banners were easy enough to stick around the living room, but it took me all afternoon to blow all the balloons up by myself. I should probably have thought about getting the boys to do that part.

When I was finally happy with how the place looked I still needed to get home to get changed for the party, and also pick up all the food from the diner to finish setting up here. I nipped up to the toilet quickly before I set off back to La Push, but my clumsiness set in as I moved a little too quickly on my way back down the stairs.

I had only got past the top two stairs when my foot somehow caught, sending me flying face first down the remaining steps. Landing with a thud on the wooden floor at the bottom, I felt a sharp pain in my wrist and knew I had damaged it.

Muttering to myself in annoyance as I stood up, I tried to stretch my wrist out a little to see if the pain would leave, but no such luck.

"Shit!" I shouted to the empty house, internally cursing myself for being so stupid when I still had so much to do for Charlie's birthday. Although it was the last thing I wanted to do, I knew I needed to get to the hospital. Grabbing my bag and keys from the kitchen side I headed outside, struggling to lock the door one handed. As I was trying to unlock the door to the truck, a silver Volvo pulled up at the end of the drive. I watched in curiosity as the driver door opened, and out stepped Edward Cullen.

I dropped my keys and grumbled to myself as I stooped to pick them up; he was the last person I wanted to see right now. As I stood back up I gasped in shock as the boy was now standing right behind me. I hadn't even heard him move.

"Hello Bella, I'm just delivering a birthday card for Charlie as a favour for Carlisle. How are you?"

"Great… fantastic." I muttered, finally managing to unlock the truck door. "Just on the way to the hospital." I grunted as I hoisted myself up into the cab, hurting my damaged wrist in the process.

"Are you hurt?" he asked, seeming concerned.

"Just my wrist, but I need to get it checked out." I told him, reaching to close the door but his hand held it open.

"You can hardly drive to the hospital with one hand Bella, what if you were to crash your car?"

"I'll manage." I muttered back, although I knew he was right. It was definitely going to be a struggle.

"I understand you are holding a birthday party for Charlie in a few hours?" he asked, and I looked up in shock. How did he know? Even Charlie didn't know, or at least I hoped he didn't.

"Um… yeah." I responded, hoping he wasn't about to ask for an invite.

"Well as you know Carlisle works at the hospital, so if you will allow me to drive you there I can make sure he sees to you straight away. That way you will be able to get back in time for the party; I'm sure you understand what hospital waiting times can be like."

I did understand, only too well. Realising that this was my only option if I didn't want to ruin Charlie's birthday, I nodded my head and followed him to his car. I couldn't help but acknowledge that I had expected him to drive a much more ostentatious car.

"Don't worry, Charlie doesn't know." He told me suddenly as he helped me into his car, seemingly reading my mind. "My sister drove by the house earlier and saw you carrying the decorations in, which is why Carlisle sent me with a card."

"Oh… that's good." I responded, allowing him to fasten my seatbelt for me before walking round the front of the car to get in the driver side. He quickly got the car moving as I studied my wrist a little, and it wasn't until I looked up to see the trees flying by at an incredible pace that I realised how fast he was driving.

"Shit! How fast are you going, you maniac?" I shouted, unable to control my wording. He looked shocked for a moment, then turned to me and chuckled.

"You want to get back in time for your father's party, don't you?" he asked, and I couldn't argue with that. I continued to look at the floor for the rest of the journey; that way I couldn't tell that he was probably driving at double the speed limit.

When he pulled up outside Forks Hospital, there was already a doctor there waiting for us. He couldn't have been much older than me, and he was incredibly handsome. He had sleek blonde hair, pale skin and golden eyes, and I couldn't help but wonder how he could've known we were coming; Edward hadn't made any phone calls on the way.

"Carlisle." Edward greeted as he helped me out from the passenger side. "This is Bella."

"Hi." I greeted awkwardly, trying to grab my bag but finding that Edward already had it.

"It's good to meet you Bella, although not in ideal circumstances." As he spoke he smiled at me, and the beautiful sight of it calmed me instantly. "Where are you hurt?" he asked as we walked into the hospital.

"My wrist." I answered, holding my left arm out for him to inspect. He took my hand with his own freezing cold fingers, much like Edward's had been the day before in the store.

"I do apologise, it's rather cold in my office." He smiled, having noticed my flinch at his touch. "I think it is just a sprain, I can have it wrapped up for you. It shouldn't take long."

I was relieved; at least it wouldn't take too long to heal. He led me down a series of corridors, finally stopping at a door marked 'Dr C Cullen'.

"After you, Bella." He smiled at me again, holding the door open and standing aside so I could walk past him. "Take a seat on the sofa, I'm sure that will be more comfortable for you." I made my way towards the sofa, and Edward remained standing by the door. "I'll just go and get a nurse." Carlisle announced, disappearing back through the door.

As Edward and I remained in an awkward silence, I couldn't help but wonder why the doctor couldn't wrap my wrist himself. Luckily he returned less than two minutes later, with an older woman behind him. As they walked through the door I noticed Carlisle and Edward exchange the smallest of glances, and then Edward spoke in a slightly irritated tone.

"I'm afraid I have things to do here at the hospital Bella, so I cannot drive you home. Would you be able to call someone to pick you up?"

"Yeah, I'll text someone now." I told him as he handed me my bag. "Thanks for bringing me."

"It was my pleasure." He replied before heading back out of the room, closing the door behind him.

I texted Emily to ask her to send one of the girls to pick me up; I didn't want Jake worrying if he found out I was in the hospital. Carlisle stayed with me whilst the nurse bandaged my wrist, making it difficult for me to strain it further, and I found that I liked him instantly. He was easy to talk to and very friendly, without invading my personal space like Edward and the girl yesterday seemed to. My wrist was finished in no time, and Carlisle walked me out to the front of the hospital to meet my ride.

"Take care Bella, and please do give my best to Charlie." He told me with a smile as Paul's truck pulled up in front of me. Luckily it was Rachel driving; I was glad to not have to face the teasing from Paul.

"Thank you Carlisle, and I will." I told him as I let myself into the truck. When I turned back to look through the window, he was gone.

"Go on then, what happened?" Rachel asked with a smirk as she set off back to La Push. "I didn't realise blowing balloons up was so dangerous, I think the boys will have to supervise from now on."

"Ha ha." I said sarcastically. "I fell down the stairs, you know what I'm like."

"Yeah, I do." She agreed with a grin, but didn't say anything else about it. We talked about Charlie's party all the way home, and she agreed to help me take the food over to his house after I had got changed.

"Jake doesn't know yet does he?" I asked as we pulled onto my road. I half expected him to be standing at the end of the drive, hands on hips.

"Nah, still at work." She replied as she brought the truck to a stop and we both got out. She walked ahead of me to open the front door; we never locked it as Jake said there was no point what with the security dogs in La Push.

"I'm gonna take a shower then get dressed, do you want to wait here?" I asked as I threw my bag onto the sofa and headed for the stairs.

"I'd better go and get changed, I'll pick you up in half an hour so we can go and get the rest of the stuff from the diner."

"Okay, thanks Rach." I called as she walked back out the door.

When I had quickly showered and awkwardly dressed in the outfit I had picked out that morning, I was quickly putting a load in the washing machine when I heard a truck pull up outside. The five loud honks that came shortly afterwards let me, and the rest of the neighbourhood, know that Paul was outside impatiently waiting for me, so I walked out of the house readying myself for the jokes to begin.

"Nice accessory you got there shortie, are all the best dressed celebs wearing them?" he called teasingly, nodding at the cast on my wrist.

"Very funny." I replied as he jumped out of the truck and lifted me in, which was a good thing as I usually struggled getting into his truck with the use of both hands.

"Ignore him." Rachel told me when I had taken my seat beside her. "We need to go and get dad after we've packed the food up; Jake and the boys are going to run to Charlie's."

"Oh good, then Jake can drive my truck home. I had to leave it there."

"For obvious reasons." Paul laughed, glancing at me. "Okay okay, I'll stop. Until the party."

We stopped at the diner while Paul singlehandedly packed all of the party food into the truck, then went to pick Billy up from his house. Once we were all in the truck, Paul drove us to Charlie's house. He pulled up on the drive so that he could easily unload the food, but as soon as he opened the truck door his taunting smile faltered.

"Bella, can I have your keys?" he asked urgently, so I handed them over without questioning him. "Wait here a minute." He ran to the front door of Charlie's house and the three of us watched as he disappeared inside. A few seconds later he was back at the side of the truck. "You girls go ahead while I help Billy."

"What's going on?" Rachel asked, beating me to it. "What was all that about?"

"Just thought Charlie was home early." He shrugged, not making eye contact with either of us. "You need to hurry up, he'll be here soon."

Rachel stared at him for a few more seconds, before turning to look at me with a confused expression. I just shrugged at her; I knew Paul wasn't being completely honest but had no idea why. We got out of the truck and each grabbed a tray of food, taking it into the house.

**PAUL POV**

As soon as I opened the truck door, the stench of bloodsucker hit my nostrils and nearly made me gag. It had been so long since I had last experienced it that I had almost forgotten how disgusting it was. My instant thought was that there was a leech in the house, so I needed to check it out before getting the girls to safety.

"Bella, can I have your keys?" I asked her, trying to sound calm but not succeeding. She gave them to me without question; a first for Bella. "Wait here a minute." I ordered, closing the truck door and running to the house. I let myself in and ran through each room quickly, sniffing the air as I went. There was no trace of a leech in here. Maybe it had just passed the house?

I ran back down to the truck, sniffing the air still. It smelled like the leech had been here a lot, which got rid of my 'just passing through' theory. What the fuck?

"You girls go ahead while I help Billy." I told them without making eye contact. I knew both of them would know instantly if I was keeping something from them, and I didn't want them panicking yet. I needed to get the pack here asap so that the girls would be more protected. I could only smell two different leeches so I knew I could take them alone, but I didn't need to take any risks when it came to Rach and Bella.

"What's going on? What was all that about?" Rach asked me, and I silently wished for her to just accept what I said.

"Just thought Charlie was home early." I told her, shrugging in what I hoped was a casual manner. "You need to hurry up, he'll be here soon."

She looked to Bella for support, but she either didn't suspect anything was happening or she was choosing not to question it. Either way, I was glad. I helped them both out of the truck and handed them each a tray of food, before helping Billy into his wheelchair and carrying it up the porch steps.

"Paul?" he asked, not needing to say anymore.

"Leech scent. All around the perimeter of the house, but not inside. I'm going to go call the others, but try not to let the girls suspect anything."

His face turned very serious and he nodded as I pushed him into the kitchen where the girls were setting the trays on the table.

"I'll go get the rest." I told them, running out of the door to phase. I heard Rachel start to question Billy, but luckily he was good at keeping things from his daughter when he needed to. I ran to the trees beside the house, quickly pulling my jeans and shirt off as I phased.

_Oh good, you're already phased. _I thought as I heard Jake, Embry and Quil's thoughts. _We've got a problem._

_What problem? Is Bells alright? _Jake asked, starting to panic.

_She's fine, but there's a fresh leech scent all round Charlie's place._

_How old? _Embry asked, instantly turning to business mode.

_Couple of hours maybe. Not much more than that. But it smells like it's not the first time it's been here._

_But there's not been any killings or disappearances. _Quil thought.

_Exactly, so why would the leech keep coming back without feeding? _I asked. _I don't like this, Jake._

_Me neither. I'll put the call out for Sam and we'll be there in a few._

_Okay, man._

I phased back to human and got redressed, running to the truck and grabbing the rest of the food. I knew that I had taken too long for it to go unnoticed, but when I entered the kitchen and placed the food down no one spoke. Rachel was glaring at me and Bella looked terrified, but I just smiled at them both and got to work unwrapping the food.


	23. Chapter 23

_**Hopefully this chapter will answer some of the questions you've been asking! It wasn't planned so it's not great, but I hope you enjoy it.**_

_**Thanks for all the reviews so far, they mean a lot to me :)**_

**CHAPTER TWENTY THREE**

**EDWARD POV**

It was strange to be heading back to Forks again, especially when such little time had lapsed since the last time we were there. It had only been five years since we had last left the town and now we were visiting again, which was a pretty risky thing to do. After all, it would be incredibly difficult for us to explain to the locals how none of us had aged a day since we had last seen them. The kids I went to school with in Forks would now be 22, yet I still looked 17.

Usually we would not have dreamed of returning to a previous hometown until all the current inhabitants had died out, but Carlisle was needed urgently at the hospital in Forks, where he used to work. A patient had been admitted with a suspected case of Spanish influenza, and of course none of the doctors in Forks had been alive long enough to have experienced the pandemic in 1918. Carlisle on the other hand, had lots of experience of treating patients with this particular illness; me being one of them. He had told his fellow doctors when working in Forks that he had done a lot of research into the virus, which wasn't a complete lie, and so he had been the first person the hospital had called, hoping that his professional opinion would be more useful than the other 'younger' doctors.

As Carlisle wasn't sure how long he would be needed in Forks, the rest of us had decided to accompany him on his trip. We were moving back into our old house as it was sufficiently hidden within the forest on the outskirts of town, making it easier for us to stay out of the public eye.

As we weren't planning on staying in town for too long, we had only brought two cars along with us. Carlisle was driving his Mercedes with Esme, Rosalie and Emmett, whilst myself, Alice and Jasper were travelling in my Volvo. The less attention we drew to ourselves, the better.

From the corner of my eye I noticed Alice abruptly stiffen and stare straight forwards, her eyes unfocused. She had been experiencing odd, blurry visions for the last few hours, since Carlisle had received the phone call and we had all decided to leave our current home in Alaska with him. I could see that the vision she was currently seeing was clearer, but I didn't understand exactly what it was she was seeing.

"What was that?" I asked when her eyes eventually regained their focus. She turned to me, a frown slightly creasing her forehead.

"You have a singer in Forks."

Now _that, _I hadn't expected. "Why would I not have met her before?"

"She wasn't there before."

"You're sure?" I asked, and she confirmed with a nod. Emmett and Jasper had told me stories about their 'singers'; humans whose blood called to them more than any other. These things rarely had happy endings.

"Should I go back to Alaska?" I asked her, knowing she would understand the reasoning behind my question.

"I don't see you hurting her." She told me quietly. "I don't see much of her actually… it's like something is blocking her from my sight."

"Who is she?"

"Charlie Swan's daughter."

* * *

><p>We had been in Forks for three days, and I was doing my best to stay away from Charlie Swan's house. However, having found my first singer after more than 80 years of being a vampire, curiosity was getting the better of me.<p>

I had been at the house this morning, hiding in the trees beside it so as not to be seen. The house was empty, and only the faintest trace of the most desirable scent I had ever experienced remained outside the building. I had a tough time resisting the urge to climb in through one of the windows to see if the scent was more concentrated indoors, but eventually I ran back to our house to question Alice some more.

"Are you sure she's still living in Forks?" I asked, earning myself an irritated glare. I had been asking Alice the same questions over and over since she first had the vision.

"I haven't seen her leaving." She replied shortly; a far cry from her usual cheery self. I really must have been irritating her.

"Do you think she's gone on vacation or something?"

"Possibly. But like I've told you a million times Edward, she's blurry. There's something about her that distorts my visions, so I can't just look into her future like I can other people."

* * *

><p>More days passed, and I was becoming impatient. Alice was avoiding me most of the time, and Emmett was trying to convince me it was for the best that my singer had seemingly disappeared.<p>

"Trust me bro, they're _impossible _to resist. You know it'd kill Carlisle if you had a relapse after all this time, so why risk it? Especially when it's the chief of police's daughter; hopefully she won't come back till after we leave."

I was about to protest that I wasn't going to hurt the girl; I was merely curious, but Alice burst into the room and put a stop to our conversation.

"I'm going to meet her?" I asked with a little too much enthusiasm as I saw the end of her vision, in which we were conversing in what looked like a supermarket.

"Yes, in Forks supermarket."

"When, Alice?"

"Tomorrow afternoon; about two o'clock."

"Alice, do you think it's such a good idea-" Emmett began, but she cut him off.

"He won't hurt her."

I turned and grinned at my brother triumphantly, glad I would finally be meeting the girl I hadn't stopped thinking about in the last week.

* * *

><p>The following afternoon I made my way to the supermarket, where the Swans were currently shopping if Alice was correct. Alice had filled me in on some details about the girl before I had left; she had been having clearer visions this morning for some reason.<p>

Up to now I had discovered that the girl's name was Isabella although she liked to be called Bella, she was 22, and owned a diner somewhere in the area although Alice couldn't see exactly where it was located, which was odd. I also knew that she drove an ancient red Chevy truck, which I happily noticed as soon as I pulled into the parking lot.

I parked in a space a little away from Bella's truck and headed into the store, but in my haste I completely forgot to keep up the pretence that I was simply there to shop. I jogged back outside to get a trolley, and rushed up and down the aisles grabbing various items from the shelves. By the time I rounded the corner of the final aisle and spotted Charlie Swan looking bored out of his mind, my trolley was occupied by some toothpaste, a frozen pizza, and some tins of dog food. I chuckled to myself at the irony, but luckily Charlie didn't notice my odd shopping as I approached.

"Good afternoon, Chief Swan." I announced when I was close enough for him to hear me. Bella was standing behind him looking at vegetables, but she didn't turn around as I continued to make small talk with her father. I noticed her scent lingering in the air; it was strong, but nothing like how my brothers had described it. I also noticed her mind was silent, which was incredibly strange for me. Surely she must have been thinking _something _while she looked between the carrot she held in one hand and the lettuce she held in the other?

Finally she put the vegetables down and turned to face us, coughing lightly as if to remind Charlie that she was still there. That was the moment that the full extent of her scent hit my nostrils, and I felt as though I had run headlong into a brick wall. As a human, of course.

Even though I had already known the girl's blood would be very appealing to me, nothing could have prepared me for the way my throat burned with thirst as she threw her hair back over her shoulder, sending a fresh wave of her incredible scent straight towards me. Not knowing whether the better option was to run in the opposite direction or jump on her and suck her dry, I did the only thing my desire-clouded mind could think of. I stopped breathing.

The relief was instantaneous, but I could still taste her in the back of my mouth. I vaguely recognised that Charlie was introducing us, but I could barely think straight. The aftermath of her scent was still painful in my throat, and I was struggling to fight the urge to grab hold of her.

"Hi." She said in a polite tone, holding her hand out to me with no way of knowing how tempting she was.

"Hello Bella." I responded with the last of the breath I had been holding, taking her hand eagerly.

Although it was for all the wrong reasons I wanted more contact with her, so I brought her hand up to my lips, dangerously close to my venom-soaked teeth. I continued to hold my breath, but the inviting blush that spread across her cheeks was almost too much for me to handle. Luckily my rational mind was still working enough to know that I couldn't take her right here, not with so many witnesses. I would have to wait for her outside; surely the opportunity would come for me to strike when she was alone for a moment, and then I would only have to take one life. Alice was convinced I wouldn't hurt the girl, but her visions weren't always accurate.

"We best get going, dad. I need to check in at the diner before it closes." Bella told her father, backing away from me with an uneasy look on her face. Her eyes were like an open book, so why was it that I couldn't hear her thoughts? As hard as I tried, her inner ramblings remained silent.

"Of course, I do apologise for keeping you." I told her, continuing to study her face as I spoke. Why couldn't I hear her mind? I had never experienced this sort of silence before.

Charlie told me to give his best to Carlisle, and as soon as their backs were turned I half-ran back along the aisles, replacing the random items from my trolley as I went. I took the trolley back to the bay outside and, checking there was no one around, I took a deep breath to steady my nerves. The fresh air diluted the memory of the girl's scent, and reasonable thoughts began to return to my mind. I had planned to wait for her to be alone so that I could seize the opportunity to drain her without having to kill any witnesses, but there was now one thing stopping me.

Carlisle.

As soon as his face popped into my mind, I knew I couldn't hurt the girl. I couldn't let him down after all the years we had spent together, Emmett was right. It would destroy Carlisle if I killed an innocent girl.

But, regardless of how dangerous it was, I needed to see the girl again. Something about her, aside from her scent, was very intriguing to me. I also wanted to find out why I couldn't hear her thoughts; was she some kind of witch? What was so special about her? No human had ever confused Alice's vision like this girl had, and now she had confounded my 'extra hearing' too. It was completely unheard of.

Before I had long to ponder this, the automatic doors opened behind me and I could smell that it was Bella. She didn't notice me, but I watched with morbid fascination as she crossed the parking lot with Charlie and they unloaded their shopping bags into her truck. It was only when Bella began to push the empty trolley back towards me that I realised I was still standing in the trolley bay. I thought about running to escape the temptation, but she had already spotted me.

"Oh, hello again." I said with feigned surprise when she reached the bay. "I meant to ask you earlier, I hear you own a diner?"

"Yeah, I bought it about 6 months ago." She replied, clumsily shoving the trolley back in place.

"That's great, maybe I'll call in sometime." Or avoid it at all costs. "Where is it?" I didn't really want to know where the diner was, but I was curious as to why Alice couldn't see the location within her vision.

"In La Push, right by First Beach." _That _would explain it. Obviously Alice's visions didn't extend to the doggy territory. "You don't like La Push?" she asked, probably noticing the look of distaste that crossed my face when I thought of the wolves. Fortunately there was no wind today, otherwise she would have seen a much more sinister expression on my face. Lucky for her the stillness of the air wasn't making her scent travel too much, so I could control my thirst. For now.

"It's not that I don't like it, it's just a little crowded for my liking. Lots of tourists." I lied, not wanting to offend her. It appeared that I still had though, as she snorted in response.

"I guess I won't be seeing you again then, because I spend most of my time in La Push. Goodbye." And _that _would explain the gaps in Alice's vision; she wouldn't be able to see Bella if she was near the wolves.

"I'm sure we will be seeing each other again." I muttered as she walked away from me, unable to tell if she heard or not as I still could not hear what she was thinking. There was something that drew me to this girl, and not just the desire to feed on her blood.

* * *

><p>When I had got back home with more questions for Alice, I found that she wasn't there. Jasper told me she had gone for a run, but that was all that anyone knew. When she had turned up a few hours later I knew she was hiding something from me, as she spent the evening reciting the alphabet in French in her mind.<p>

The next afternoon however, she decided to share with me again as she came into my room with news of a new vision.

"Bella's going to fall down the stairs and hurt herself." She blurted, replaying the sight of Bella flying face first down a flight of stairs for me to see.

"When?" I asked, suddenly having an overwhelming desire to protect her. Ironic that less than 24 hours before I had been feeling the complete opposite, but I didn't have time to question where the change had come from.

"2 minutes and 19 seconds." She answered, looking at her watch. "You can't stop it from happening, but she'll need a ride to the hospital. Do you want me to go?"

"No, I'll go." I told her, already on my way to the garage.

"You can't just go over there without an excuse, you'll freak her out!" she called after me as she struggled to keep up with my speed. She was right, so I slowed enough for her to run beside me.

"Any suggestions?" I asked her, not wanting to look like a stalker to Bella.

"Yes actually. It's Charlie's birthday today; that's why she's at his house, to set up for his party. Pretend you're delivering him a card."

I nodded, that was the best we had time to come up with. I didn't actually have a card to give him, so I just hoped I'd be able to distract her enough for her to forget that was my motive for being there. I got into the driver's seat of the Volvo, but Alice was still following me.

"Edward, there's one more thing you need to know… Bella's married." I nodded impatiently; I had actually noticed the ring on her left hand yesterday but it didn't really have any importance to me right now. Alice seemed to think otherwise, though. "She's married… to a wolf." That got my full attention.

"Does she know?" I asked, astonished that someone so weak and fragile-looking would end up married to such a volatile and dangerous species, second only to the human blood drinking vampires. Plus, she wasn't from the tribe.

"Yeah, she knows. But _they_ don't know we're back in town."

"Okay." I told her as I put the car into gear and took off out of the garage, pulling my cell phone out of my pocket to call Carlisle. True to form, he answered on the first ring.

"Edward?"

"Alice saw Charlie Swan's daughter fall down the stairs, so I'm bringing her to the hospital."

"Okay, I'll wait out front. Is there anything else?"

Carlisle had the uncanny ability to tell when there was something on my mind, even when he couldn't see my face.

"Alice says she's married to one of the wolves."

"Ah… I haven't informed them of our return. I didn't think they needed to know as we will be leaving again soon, but they won't be happy to find out I kept this from them."

"Should I call the Alpha?"

There was silence for a few seconds before he replied.

"No, I'll sort it. Just bring Bella here, we'll discuss the rest later."

I put the phone down and concentrated on getting to Bella, but a sudden thought struck me. What if she was bleeding? I would have no chance of resisting her if I could smell her blood that strongly. But no, surely Alice would have warned me if that were the case.

When I pulled up outside the Swan house, I stepped out of the car and saw Bella trying to unlock the door to her truck with one hand whilst nursing the other against her chest. When she saw me she dropped the keys, and I made my way towards her whilst she fumbled on the ground.

Using the guise of bringing Charlie a birthday card, I managed to persuade her to let me take her to the hospital. I was glad to discover that she wasn't bleeding, but I still wound my window down to help dilute the delicious smell of Bella. It didn't help much so I pressed down hard on the accelerator, wanting to get out of the car as quickly as possible. Bella's reaction to my speed amused me, but she had no way of knowing that I wouldn't crash the car. When I pulled up outside the hospital and saw Carlisle standing there, I allowed myself to relax a little. There was no way I could hurt Bella with him around.

I helped Bella out of the car and introduced her to Carlisle, carrying her bag for her while Carlisle inspected her wrist.

_I spoke to Alice. _Carlisle's thoughts suddenly caught my attention. I could tell he wasn't pleased, although his expression gave nothing away. _I'm going to get a nurse to bandage the sprain; we can't send her back to the wolves with our scent all over her._

I gave him the tiniest nod of acknowledgement as we reached his office, and he told Bella to take a seat while he went to get the nurse. He continued to communicate with me through his thoughts.

_You need to leave, son. It wasn't right of you to put her at an unnecessary risk by being around you. We will have to hope that the wolves don't notice your scent on her… I don't think they will be best pleased if they find out we have been in such close proximity to one of their own without her knowing._

He returned then with a nurse behind him, giving me a pointed look as he passed by me to stand near Bella. I didn't want to leave, but I knew he was right. I turned to Bella and gave her an excuse about having things to do, then left the hospital in an irritated mood. I had no idea why but I wanted to spend more time with the girl, even though that should have been the last thing I wanted. Not only was her blood painfully tempting to me, but she was also married to my enemy.


	24. Chapter 24

**All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.**

**CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR**

**JACOB POV**

As soon as Paul had phased back I put the call out for Sam; a howl I hadn't had to make in many months. There had been no vampire activity since long before Bella came to Forks, and now there was suddenly one hanging around her dad's house! I got really angry as I thought about what could have happened to Charlie; he was like an uncle to me, and Bells would be distraught if something happened to her last living relative. I fucking hate bloodsuckers.

_Wasn't Bella there alone today? _Quil asked suddenly, and I almost stopped dead in my tracks. I had completely forgotten!

_Shit! We need to sort this out, asap. _I felt myself become even angrier at the thought that this leech had been so close to my Bells. My soul mate. The love of my life.

_She's alright Jake, that's the main thing. Just focus; we'll get this leech no problem. _Embry said, trying to calm me.

_Jake? What's going on? _Sam's thoughts broke through our own then as he phased in, confused as to why I would have needed him to phase when he was going to see me at the party.

_Leech. _I told him, replaying the conversation with Paul through my mind for him to hear.

_How far from Charlie's are you? _He asked, instantly switching to his calm but authoritative Alpha mode.

_Not far, we're just about to pass into Forks. _I told him, showing our exact location in my mind.

_Okay, when you get there patrol the house until the rest of us join you. I'll get Seth to bring the other girls over and we'll be there as soon as we can._

_Okay, man. _I replied, hearing him call out for the others. Shortly afterwards the rest of the pack phased, and I listened to Sam get them up to speed as they all ran in our direction. Seth phased back out, sent to pick up Emily, Kim and Jackie so that all the imprints were in one place.

As soon as we passed the border into Forks, the familiar vile stench hit me. It took me by surprise for a second as my nose adjusted, having not smelled a leech for so long, but then I realised the smell was familiar. _Too _familiar.

_It's a fucking Cullen! _I announced, sniffing the air again to make sure. _Two of them; the youngest male and the pixie female._

_Are you sure Jake?_

_Positive. _I answered, allowing Sam access to the scent. He took it in for a few seconds before agreeing with me.

_Yep, definitely Cullens._

I felt the rest of the pack relax a little at the knowledge that it was the veggie vamps, but I didn't. I had never trusted the Cullens, no matter what the treaty said.

_Me neither Jake. _Sam agreed._ Last we heard from the Cullens they wouldn't be returning, and we don't know why they're back yet so everyone needs to be on full alert. Treat the situation like any normal vampire until we know differently._

_So what's the plan? _Quil asked. _The girls and Charlie will know something's going on if we all patrol instead of turning up at the party._

_Good point, Quil. _Sam acknowledged. _Well Collin and Brady weren't coming to the party, so you guys go patrol for now. The Cullens are more likely to turn up in Forks, so the rest of us will go to the party as planned. But like I said; be on full alert. We don't know what kind of a threat they pose yet._

_Give us a howl if you need anything guys. _I told Collin and Brady as Quil, Embry and I made it to the edge of the forest behind Charlie's house. _We'll go ahead and fill Paul in, no doubt he's going crazy in there._

_Good idea. Jared and I will wait in the forest until Seth and the girls get there._

_Okay man, see you in a bit. _I replied, before phasing and pulling my clothes out of the bag tied to my ankle. The three of us got dressed quickly, and I led the way into Charlie's house. The group were all packed into the kitchen, and the sight would have been funny had there not been vampires about.

Bella looked scared, but was busying herself in the corner of the room by rearranging all the food on the table. Rachel was glaring at Paul with her arms folded across her chest while Paul awkwardly avoided her gaze, and Billy was in the middle twiddling his thumbs and looking uncomfortable. As soon as they saw us, they all seemed to breathe out in relief.

"Jake!" Bells shouted, running at me and throwing her arms up in the air to hug me, but pausing and wincing as she lowered her left arm again. I glanced down to see what was causing her pain, and noticed her bandaged wrist.

"Bells, what happened?" I asked in concern, but she smiled and shook her head.

"Fell down the stairs when I was setting up here earlier. It's just a sprain, I've had way worse."

I laughed a little, shaking my head in disbelief. "Only you could be alone for a couple of hours and have to go to the hospital." What I really meant was, 'only you could be alone so close to a bloodsucker and end up with a sprained wrist', but I wasn't about to scare her to death when Charlie would be here any minute.

I pulled her up into a hug then, getting her as close to me as possible while avoiding her wrist. My inner wolf had been frantic since I had realised how close Bells had been to danger, and I needed to touch her to make sure she was okay. The thought of Bells so close to a leech had really messed with my head so that I didn't want to leave her alone again, but Paul caught my eye over the top of her head and I knew I had to tell him what the rest of us knew. I motioned for him to follow me into the living room, putting Bella down begrudgingly.

"Try not to break any bones while I'm gone." I told her in an attempt to lighten the mood; the tension in that kitchen was unbelievable. Bells and dad chuckled, but Rachel was still glaring. She didn't like to be kept out of things.

"It's the Cullens." I told Paul as soon as we were alone. A look of recognition crossed his face, followed shortly by anger.

"I knew that stench was a little too familiar. What the fuck do they want hanging round Charlie's house?"

"No idea, we need to call a meeting with them tonight so that we can find out. Sam's left Brady and Collin on patrol and told the rest of us to keep a nose out during the party, in case they come back while we're here."

"Are you going to tell Bella?" he asked, looking unsure himself as to what was the best thing to do given the situation.

"I know I have to, I just don't want to worry her yet. You know what she's like, she'll worry about Charlie and then when I tell her we'll keep Charlie safe she'll worry about us."

"Yeah, sounds like Bella." He chuckled. "Maybe you shouldn't tell her, at least till after we've met the Cullens. They might just be passing through for all we know."

"Maybe." I didn't really believe it, but I hoped that was the case.

Just then the front door opened behind me, and in came Sam, Jared and Seth with their imprints. Sam nodded to me to let me know nothing had changed, and the girls seemed completely relaxed so I realised they must not have been told anything about the leeches. A few minutes later Leah, Sue and Jackie came through the door, and we were all chatting in the living room when Seth spoke up.

"Charlie's a couple of streets away." He announced. Seth had the best ears of the pack, so he had been given the task of listening out for Charlie's arrival.

Bells stumbled round the room turning all the lights off, except for a lamp by the sofa. Charlie thought that Bells, Billy and I were coming around for dinner; he had no idea that everyone else would be here. Paul, Seth and Sue's cars were all safely hidden on the next street where he wouldn't see them. It was ridiculous for the guys to even attempt hiding with the size of them, so they all just gathered in the centre of the room while we listened for Charlie's cruiser.

A few minutes later headlights shone through the front door as Charlie pulled up on the drive, and we all listened as he got out of the car and walked up the porch steps. He opened the door and called, "Bells?" in his typical greeting.

"In here, dad!" she called back, stifling a giggle. A few seconds later he emerged round the corner of the doorframe, jumping half a foot in the air when he saw all of us standing there.

"Happy birthday!" we all shouted as Bella raced forwards to hug Charlie, who still stood there in shock.

"You kept this secret well, kiddo!" he laughed as he wrapped his arms around her. "You must have learned to lie somewhere; normally I can read you like a book and I had no idea you were planning this!"

"That is the whole point in a surprise party, dad." She laughed, letting go of him so he could greet everyone else.

The party went without Charlie suspecting anything was wrong aside from Rachel's obvious bad mood, which could have easily been caused by Quil's constant talk about sex. Charlie and Bells wore identical blushes for the entire duration of the party, and they both seemed relieved when Quil had to leave abruptly. Sam had asked him to go and check on the patrol, but I think he secretly just wanted to end Bella's embarrassment.

Before we left the party at around midnight, Sam informed me that dad had given him the Cullens' phone number, and that he would be calling them to arrange a meeting as soon as he had got Emily home. As I drove Bella's truck home, she kept on glancing at me as if prompting me to fill her in on the night's events. She didn't say anything, but I could tell she was feeling uneasy about it.

"I might have to go on patrol for a little while tonight, honey." I told her, choosing not to give her any further details yet until I knew more about the situation. "Do you want to stay with Emily for a bit?"

"No it's okay, I'll stay at home." She replied. "Unless I'm better off at Emily's?"

"No, you can stay at home. I just wasn't sure if you'd want company or not."

"I'm pretty tired. I'll just go to bed and try to get some sleep while you're out." I could tell that wasn't exactly the truth; Bells would be worrying too much to sleep tonight.

"I'll get home as quick as I can." I promised her. Having already been to several meetings with the Cullens, I knew that Sam and the rest of us would want to get out of there as quickly as possible. The smell would be unbearable, especially after going so long without having to smell it.

"Good." She replied with a smile. The last thing I wanted to do was leave Bella tonight, but the sooner the Cullen situation was under control the better. For the rest of the drive home I avoided telling Bells anything about the bloodsuckers being back in town; I didn't want to give her even more reason not to sleep tonight.

When I pulled up on our drive, Embry was already waiting on the porch so I knew the meeting must have been sorted.

"Patrol time." He announced as I got out of the truck, giving me a meaningful look. I nodded to him, walking round the truck to help Bella out.

"Do you need help with anything before I go? I mean, what with you only having one hand-"

"I'll be fine." She interrupted with a smile, leaning closer to whisper to me. "The sooner you go, the sooner you can be back, right?"

"Right." I confirmed, bending over to give her a kiss. "See you soon."

"I'll be waiting." She replied, returning my kiss before heading up the porch steps as Embry walked towards me. "Night, Embry." She called when she had opened the front door.

"Night, Bella." He answered, and we watched as she closed the door behind her with a small wave. When I was satisfied that she was alright, we started towards the forest behind my house.

"Sam got in touch with the leeches then?" I asked quietly as we walked through my back garden.

"Yeah, treaty line in about half hour. Sam wants to go over a few things before though, thinks we're all a bit rusty with the whole vamp thing."

"He's right, no doubt Paul will go in there and rip them all to shreds if we don't prepare him a little first."

"True."

We phased and ran to meet Sam and the others, to discuss what would be happening in the meeting. We all knew that the youngest male could read our minds, so we agreed it would be best to all remain in wolf form throughout the meeting so that we could protect ourselves better.

And so, at 1am we made our way to the treaty line as wolves. The stench hit my nostrils a long time before I could see them, but when we were close enough the eery sight before me brought back lots of unpleasant memories. After all, the seven still, pale creatures standing before us had triggered all of our transformations five years before.

"Good evening." The leader greeted when we all came to a stop. Sam was in the middle flanked by me and Paul, who was already snarling just from the smell. "Will one of you be changing so that we can communicate, or will Edward be playing translator?"

_Why are you here? _Sam asked without answering the doctor's question, knowing the mind reading leech would hear him.

"Carlisle was asked to come back to the hospital to treat a patient with a rare illness."

_How long will you be staying?_

"Carlisle's expertise should only be needed for another couple of days at the most."

_And then you will be leaving again?_

"Edward, can you please translate for the rest of us?" The one called Carlisle asked then.

"Yeah, this is seriously boring." The biggest leech said, faking a yawn to emphasise the point.

"The Alpha would like to know if we are leaving once you are no longer needed at the hospital."

"Yes, we will be going back to Alaska once the treatment I am giving is over. I believe we will be leaving in three days' time, I cannot see me being needed for any longer than that."

_Good. _Paul thought, still snarling slightly at the smell but none of the leeches seemed bothered by him.

"Is there anything else you wish to know?" the doctor asked, looking to the one called Edward to wait for the reply.

_We just want to remind you of the terms of the treaty. We understand it will be kept intact for the duration of your stay?_

"Of course it will be kept intact!" Edward replied somewhat bitterly. When Carlisle looked to him for an explanation, he rolled his eyes as he spoke. "The treaty."

"I can assure you that our part of the deal will remain intact. None of my family will be feeding from any human."

_Good. The only other thing we want to know, is why we picked up the scent of two of your family outside Chief Swan's house tonight? What business do you have there?_

"I delivered a birthday card for Chief Swan." The mind reader replied.

_So why were you there several times over the last few days? And why was the little one there too?_

"Alice and I have visited the Chief several times since we returned to Forks." He answered casually, but as I watched the leader's reactions I could see that he didn't seem entirely happy with what his 'son' was saying. Sam however seemed to accept his answers.

_In that case we have nothing else to discuss. _He told Edward, who repeated his words to the vamps.

_Good, I can get back to Bells. _I thought, allowing myself to imagine my beautiful wife lying awake waiting for me to get home. The rest of the guys were thinking the same about their own imprints, but as we started to retreat the mind reading vampire surprised us with a question of his own.

"Why do you keep thinking about Chief Swan's daughter?" he asked, looking at me with an irritated look on his face. I instantly let out a growl when I realised he had been reading my thoughts about Bells, and I could hear Paul growling at him too.

_What business is that of yours? _Sam asked, much more politely than I would have been capable of.

Edward didn't reply, merely shrugging his shoulders in an attempt at fake casualness. I didn't want to grace the leech with any information about my private life, but I couldn't help the memory of our wedding day float to the front of my mind. I knew straight away that the bloodsucker had seen the memory. "So she is married to the true Alpha." he muttered, seeming to ponder this new information.

_What if she is?_ I growled, taking a step towards him. It was only then that I realised Paul was already advancing on him, teeth bared.

_Paul! You will not break the terms of the treaty by attacking a Cullen. _Sam ordered, the Alpha tone resonating his words. Paul growled at Sam angrily, but Sam ignored him. _Let's leave. _He told us, and I aimed one last snarl at the mind reader before following my pack brothers back towards our homes.

We all wondered why the leech had been so interested by Bella, but as soon as I got into my back garden and could hear the woman I loved tossing and turning in bed, my anger dissipated and I raced into the house to get to her.

"Everything okay?" she asked sleepily as I slid into bed beside her, wrapping my arms tightly around her and kissing every inch of skin I could get to.

"Yeah honey, everything's fine." I'd just have to make sure the leech wasn't anywhere near Bells for the next few days, then they would be gone again. Hopefully this time it would be forever.


	25. Chapter 25

**CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE**

**BELLA POV**

Over the next few days I was bored out of my mind thanks to my sprained wrist. Emily and Kim refused to let me work, telling me to relax and let it heal instead, but that only made me restless. Jake had asked me to stay on the res while he was at work, and although I tried to keep myself busy at the house, it didn't take long for me to discover that I could still drive with my bandaged wrist.

In the morning I would clean up a little at home, then head to the diner for a while. The girls wouldn't let me help out in any way, so I usually just went for a chat with them and to play with Sammy and Josh. At lunchtime I would go home and cook for Jake, Quil and Embry, even though he kept telling me to stop. Quil was the only one who didn't protest every time I walked into the garage with a bag full of food for them. Next I would head to Charlie's to clean and sometimes cook his dinner so that he would only have to heat it up when he got home from work, then I would head back to La Push to make dinner for Jake and I.

The only problem with my new daily routine was that Edward Cullen seemed to be keeping track of it. Either that, or I was experiencing the weirdest coincidences ever. He jogged past Charlie's house at the exact time that I arrived every day, stopping and speaking to me for a few minutes as he passed. Every time I went to the store, he was there. The petrol station in town? He was there. I even went all the way to Port Angeles the day after my injury to buy some new books, and who should be browsing the fiction section? Yeah that's right, Edward Cullen.

He was always polite when we spoke, but there was still that thing about him that I couldn't put my finger on; the thing that unsettled me, as if it wasn't creepy enough that he always seemed to know where I was! The only place I hadn't bumped into him was on the res; he obviously had some serious issues with the place.

A few days after my accident when I was leaving Charlie's after doing some cleaning, Edward pulled up at the end of the drive in his silver Volvo. Luckily for him I was in a good mood, so I was polite when he came striding up the drive towards me.

"Hello Bella, I was hoping to catch you here."

"Hi Edward. I was just about to leave actually, I need to check on things at work." My usual lie, but he never seemed to see through it.

"I won't keep you, I just wanted to bring you this." He told me, handing me a square package which was neatly wrapped in 'happy birthday' gift wrap. "A little bird told me that it was your birthday soon, and I wanted to give you this. I noticed your truck here earlier so I thought it best to bring it you now, in case I don't see you again before your birthday."

"Oh…wow. You didn't have to do that." I said, astonished that he had bothered to get me a gift. We had only spoken several times in passing since he had taken me to the hospital, and I hadn't exactly been friendly most of the times I had seen him. "It's not actually my birthday for a couple of weeks..."

"I know, but I think we will be leaving town soon." He replied with a crooked smile. He really was handsome, but after all these weeks I still could not figure out what it was that made me want to avoid him.

"Well, thank you Edward. That's very nice of you." I felt bad for trying to brush him off, so decided I could make conversation with him for a few minutes. "How are your family?"

"They are well, thank you. I believe you know my sister, Alice? She talks about you a lot."

I struggled to keep the frown from my face when he told me that. I had gathered that the small girl who spoke to me about my truck had been Edward's sister, but that was the only contact I had with her. What could she possibly say about me after our short conversation? I quickly regained my polite composure, meaning to end our talk as quickly as possible so I could leave.

"We met yeah, she seems nice." If a little creepy.

"She will be very happy to hear that you think well of her."

I smiled and took another step towards my truck, but he matched it and continued to speak.

"I was wondering if you would like to come to my house for dinner? That way you can meet the rest of my family, and I know Carlisle and Alice would both be very happy to see you again."

I couldn't hide the shock from my face this time, my mouth dropping open a little before I could control it. "I don't know about that, I actually have plans on Tuesdays." The thought of bailing on movie night and leaving Jake and Paul to have to eat Rachel's cooking almost made me laugh, but I didn't think that would help me look honest.

"Then how about tomorrow?"

"I babysit my friends' baby on Wednesday evenings."

"Okay… Thursday?"

"That's my date night with my husband." I emphasised the last word in the hope that he would get the message, but he didn't seem to even acknowledge the word. "I actually don't think my husband would be too pleased about me having dinner with another man, he can be pretty protective." I laughed, attempting to make a joke of the situation but Edward didn't appear to be joining me.

"What your husband doesn't know won't hurt him."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, a little too aggressively.

"Marriage isn't absolute Bella. There are some things that are much more everlasting than marriage, maybe you should consider that."

"What?" I asked, shaking my head. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"I know you don't, but it is a shame. If only our paths had crossed sooner, things would have been very different."

The anger that rose inside me gave me a confidence boost. Old Bella would have just ignored his words and got in the truck, but new Bella wanted an explanation. "If that means what I think it means, then you're sadly mistaken. I'm _very _happy with my husband, he is my perfect match."

"I disagree."

"With what?"

"I do not think he is your perfect match. I would actually say that he is dangerous for you Bella, if only you could see that."

I was stunned for a second; did Edward somehow know the tribe's secret? No, it was impossible. "And why would you think that? You've never even met Jacob."

"Yes I have, which is why I know he is dangerous for you to be around. I would take you far away from that place right now if I wasn't aware of the repercussions it would have on my family. The only reason I have let you go on living as you are is because I know you would not like to leave Charlie."

"The only reason you have _let _me? Who the hell do you think you are?" I yelled at him, causing him to visibly flinch. I no longer cared; he had made me beyond angry.

"There is no need to curse, Isabella."

I couldn't even manage to get any words out to respond to him, so I stormed angrily to my truck without another word. I only looked back when I had reversed off of the drive, and saw him still standing there beside his car.

"Stupid… weird looking… creep!" I finally managed to stammer when I was almost in La Push and had gained enough control of myself to be able to speak again. I was so mad that I made the decision to go straight to the garage, so that I could let out my pent up aggression to Jake, Embry and Quil. Parking up outside, I jumped out of the cab and slammed the door shut behind me, only pausing to grab the present so I could smash whatever it was with one of Jake's power tools. I pulled the garage door open a little too aggressively, causing it to bounce off the wall and create a bang that echoed throughout the room.

Instantly the heads of Jake and his two best friends appeared from under three different cars, taken aback by my loud entrance. "Bells?" Jake called as he realised it was me.

"Jeez Bella, get out the wrong side of the bed this morning?" Quil joked.

"I didn't think you had the strength to open that door alone, never mind nearly pull it off it's hinges!" Embry laughed, wiping his hands on a cloth as all three of them made their way towards me. Embry was closest, so it was him who reacted first. One second he was coming towards me with a surprised grin on his face, the next he was growling at me and his whole body was shaking.

Then came Quil, who too was shaking from head to toe. He was facing me with a deadly stare, looking so intimidating that I wouldn't have even known it was him if I hadn't seen his expression change first hand.

Finally Jake came towards me, turning completely serious as he circled me. His hands were shaking, but he seemed more in control than the other two. I was about to speak up and tell them they were all seriously freaking me out, but Jake finally broke the tense silence.

"Bella, where have you been? Who have you been with?" he asked in a cold, angry voice.

"I was at Charlie's, then this idiot boy was outside when I left…" I answered timidly, all but forgetting how angry I had felt a minute before.

"What boy, Bells?"

"He's called Edward. I think his surname is Cullen-"

I was about to tell him exactly what I thought of Edward Cullen, but I was interrupted by a loud, menacing growl that somehow came from Quil. He seemed to be shaking even more violently as he ran past me out of the door, I assumed to phase.

"They said they'd fucking stay away!" Embry roared, and all I could do was look on in shock. I had never seen any of the guys this angry, and it was seriously scary.

"Did he hurt you, Bella?" Jake asked, shaking more than he had been before as he looked me over.

"What? No! No, he was just really irritating. And I've got a feeling he knows about the pack."

"No shit." Embry said, snorting humourlessly. He still looked tense, but Jake visibly relaxed a little when he knew I wasn't harmed.

"Okay Bells, what exactly happened?"

I proceeded to tell them both all about my chance encounters with Edward, pausing every now and again when Embry's shaking and growls got particularly violent. I felt much more comfortable when I realised the hostility wasn't aimed at me, but I still had no idea why they had reacted so strangely.

"How did you know I had been with someone anyway? And why are you all so angry?"

"Bells… do you remember what I told you about vampires?"

"Yeah." I answered, wondering why he would mention vampires at that moment.

"I told you about the family of vampires, that lived in Forks but moved away before you came here? The family we have the treaty with?"

"Yeah, the Cullens…" as soon as I had said the words, all the pieces fit themselves together in my mind. "Edward is a…"

"Yeah Bells." Jake nodded. "He's a bloodsucker."

"A bloodsucker who's pushed his luck once too often." Embry corrected. "We need to tell Sam about this."

"Yeah, we should call him." He agreed, finally closing the distance between us and kissing me briefly, before turning his nose up. "Did he touch you? 'Cause something on you seriously stinks of leech."

It was only then that I remembered the gift Edward had given me, which I had stuffed into the back pocket of my jeans. "He gave me this." I told him, pulling out the package. "I don't know what it is, should I open it?"

"Yeah, let's see if it's anything we can get him for." Embry said, curiously peering at the present but not coming any closer to it. "You better do it though Bella, I don't think I can handle the stench."

I carefully tore the paper, scared of what could be waiting for me inside. When I had finally got it open, I was relieved to find it was pretty normal.

"It's a CD." I told them, waving it in the air. "A homemade one, but there's nothing written on it."

"We should play it, see if there's some threat on there or something."

I nodded and walked over to the office where there was a CD player. Popping it in and pressing play, we were all surprised by the sound that hit out ears.

"What's this shit?" Quil asked as he rejoined us, seeming calmer than before.

"Piano." Jake replied with a shrug.

"Do you think it's Cullen playing?" Embry asked, looking at me.

"Wouldn't surprise me." I responded, skipping through the tracks to find that they were all pieces of piano music. Edward's voice even introduced each track, and the last piece on the CD made all three boys begin to growl again.

"This is a song I wrote for you, Bella." Edward's voice drifted through the speakers. "I call it Bella's Lullaby. I hope that listening to this before you go to sleep will allow you to feel close to me, even though I cannot be with you while you are living in La Push."

"Right that's it." Jake announced in the angriest voice I had ever heard. Turning to me, his voice softened temporarily while he spoke to me. "Bells, we have to go take care of this. I'll see you at home in an hour." He kissed me quickly, before turning to Embry and Quil. "Guys, let's go. There's no way Cullen's getting away before I've seen to him."

"Wait!" I shouted as the three of them made their way out of the office. Jake was the only one to pause and look back at me. "Do you really think I'm going to sit and wait for you while you confront him? It's me he's been stalking!"

"Bells-" he began with a pleading look on his face, but I was having none of it.

"No, Jake. I'm coming with you."


	26. Chapter 26

_**Sorry for the delayed update, I've been pretty busy this week and I struggled quite a bit trying to write in Carlisle's perspective! The next chapter will be up in the next couple of days. Hope you enjoy!**_

**All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.**

**CHAPTER TWENTY SIX**

**CARLISLE POV**

"Well I guess the pack could smell our scent on Bella." I announced as I put the phone down. The pack Alpha had just called me to arrange a meeting, but of course my family had heard every word of our conversation so I didn't need to repeat what he had said to me.

"Can you see anything, Alice? Will the meeting end badly?" Esme asked, looking anxious.

Alice shook her head. "I can't see much with the wolves being involved, but it can't end that badly. We will all be hunting together next week; none of us will be harmed."

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go kick some smelly canine butt!" Emmett shouted, jumping up from his seat on the couch in excitement and clenching his fists.

"There will be no violence." I reminded him. "The last thing we want to do is jeopardise the treaty when the wolves are already unhappy with us." Emmett looked ready to object, but I cut him off. "They outnumber us, remember? Even with Edward's gift we would still be at a disadvantage, so a fight with the wolves would definitely not be in our family's best interest. Please be on your best behaviour, all of you."

Emmett looked irritated as we made our way to the meeting place, but I knew he wouldn't do anything that would put our family at risk. We were a little early when we arrived at the treaty line, so we stood and waited in silence. Not much time passed before I could smell that the pack was near, and sure enough moments later the ten large wolves emerged from the trees and came to a stop about 100 yards in front of us. The dark silver wolf to the left of the Alpha was already snarling, and I noticed Rosalie place her hand over her nose in disgust out of the corner of my eye.

"Good evening." I greeted the wolves before they could take offense to Rosalie's reaction. Of course, none of them responded. "Will one of you be changing so that we can communicate, or will Edward be playing translator?" I waited for some sort of reaction from the wolves, but there was none. Edward suddenly spoke up, essentially answering my question for them.

"Carlisle was asked to come back to the hospital to treat a patient with a rare illness." I assumed that one of the wolves must have asked why we were back in Forks, but Edward didn't repeat their question to us. The clearing was quiet for a moment apart from the constant growls coming from the silver wolf, until Edward spoke again.

"Carlisle's expertise should only be needed for another couple of days at the most." When he once again failed to translate the question to us, I turned to face him.

"Edward, can you please translate for the rest of us?"

"Yeah, this is seriously boring." Emmett added with a fake yawn.

"The Alpha would like to know if we are leaving once you are no longer needed at the hospital." Edward told me, ignoring his brother's comment.

"Yes, we will be going back to Alaska once the treatment I am administering is over." I answered, turning back again to address the Alpha. "I believe we will be leaving in three days' time, I cannot see me being needed for any longer than that." I gave them a moment to absorb the information, before continuing. "Is there anything else you wish to know?"

We all stood in silence again as we waited for Edward to give their reply. The silver wolf's snarling had eased off a little now; the news of our upcoming departure must have pleased him.

"Of course it will be kept intact!" Edward suddenly shouted, taking us all by surprise. I looked to him to remind him that we could not hear the wolves, and he rolled his eyes.

"The treaty." He said simply, knowing I would understand the implications of those two words.

"I can assure you that our part of the deal will remain intact. None of my family will be feeding from any human."

This seemed to appease the wolves again, as they all seemed to relax a little. We waited a while for a reply, and I thought that the meeting was over until Edward spoke again.

"I delivered a birthday card for Chief Swan." He said, again taking me by surprise; Edward had only met Charlie Swan a couple of times when we were last living in Forks. I had a good professional relationship with Charlie, but even I hadn't known it was his birthday. Before I could ponder his answer for long though, he spoke again.

"Alice and I have visited the Chief several times since we returned to Forks." If I wasn't surprised before, now I definitely was. I didn't need to look at Alice to know that she would be looking nervous; this was clearly something we needed to discuss at home. It would certainly do no good to ask Edward about this in front of the wolves, so I was thankful that the rest of my family kept quiet even though they must have been confused about the change in discussion.

After a few moments of silence, Edward turned to me with a slightly sheepish look. "The Alpha says that they have nothing more to discuss with us."

The wolves all began to retreat back into the trees, but Edward unexpectedly spoke up again and made them all stop.

"Why do you keep thinking about Chief Swan's daughter?" He asked, giving me even more cause for concern; Edward should not be getting involved with a human girl. I had no idea to which wolf he was directing his question, but two of them reacted much more angrily than the others. The silver wolf that had been snarling at us constantly began to stalk towards us, teeth bared and an angry growl rumbling deep in its chest. The large russet brown wolf on the other side of the Alpha also began to move towards us, looking ready to kill.

_Edward. _I thought, needing to calm the situation. _Remember what I said earlier. If we were to fight, there is no way we would all survive._

He shrugged his shoulders; I wasn't sure whether it was in response to my thoughts or the wolves. There was a brief pause where all we could hear were the angry growls from the two wolves, until Edward spoke again.

"So she is married to the true Alpha." He said to himself, seeming to aggravate the wolves further. Just as I was sure they were going to attack, they both came to a stop. They looked at Edward for a few seconds more as the rest of the wolves once again began to retreat, then both turned and followed with one last deathly glare at Edward.

We all remained still and quiet until we were sure the wolves were far away, and it was Rosalie who finally broke the silence.

"What the hell was all that about?" she shouted, looking at each of us for some sort of an explanation. "Edward, why did you piss them off like that?"

"I think we should discuss this at home." I told her, giving Edward a meaningful look. "I have a feeling that the wolves would not want to hear whatever Edward is about to tell us."

He avoided my gaze, but followed slightly behind as we all made our way silently back to the house. When the familiar building came into view and we all ran around to the front door, I noticed that Edward was still lagging behind.

"Sorry." He muttered without meeting my eyes, before running off into the trees. I attempted to run after him although he was a much faster runner than me, but Alice stopped me.

"He'll be back in the morning Carlisle, he's not ready to talk yet."

"Then I hope that you are, because I need some answers."

She nodded before heading into the house behind the others. After one last glance into the trees I followed her into the living room where the rest of the family, minus Edward, were waiting.

"Go on then Alice, what's going on?" Emmett asked, looking more interested than he had all evening. She looked at the ground, avoiding all of our eyes as she spoke.

"It started when we were on our way to Forks; I had a vision. I saw Bella Swan, and I saw that… Bella is Edward's singer."

I quickly looked up at Jasper and Emmett, who had both had experience with this particular problem. Emmett seemed shocked at Alice's revelation, but I got the impression that Jasper already knew about this.

"But, how is she still alive?" Emmett asked, looking puzzled. "The way that the blood calls to you, it's impossible to resist… are you sure she's his singer?"

"Positive." She replied quickly. "I have been close to her too, and even to me her blood smelled more tempting than any other. Didn't you find that, Carlisle?" she asked, looking up to meet my eye for the first time since before the Alpha had called.

"I can't say that I noticed, but then I have trained myself to ignore the smell of blood." I told her. It had taken me several centuries, but I had done what was necessary to allow me to continue to help humans. "Why have you been to see Bella?"

She looked a little guilty as she replied. "I knew Edward had met her that day, so I waited by Chief Swan's house. To make sure Edward hadn't hurt her. After what Jasper had told me about his singer, I didn't think Edward would be able to resist her blood."

"If that is the case, then why has Edward been visiting Bella? I'm sure it would have been much wiser for him to stay as far away from her as possible, so as not to risk hurting her."

"He's got it into his head that…" she began, but stopped speaking and looked around at us with a pained expression on her face.

"That what, Alice?" Esme asked gently, placing a reassuring hand on Alice's shoulder in a very human gesture.

"That Bella is his soul mate."

"But she's human!" Rosalie yelled, standing up abruptly in anger. "How exactly did he think a relationship with a human would end well?"

"I don't know." She said sadly, looking up at me again. "I'm sorry Carlisle, I should have told you all this sooner."

"Why does Edward think that Bella is his soul mate?" I asked, not understanding why my son could have come to this conclusion. Until tonight I had always seen Edward as a highly logical young man, not someone stupid enough to think that a relationship with a human could work.

"He can't read her mind." She told me, and I heard Esme gasp. "He's completely intrigued by it; she's the first person he's ever come across who can defeat his gift. He thinks that means something."

"That is strange." I admitted, wondering how the human girl could avoid Edward's mindreading abilities. I had done a lot of research into the special 'gifts' that existed within my family, and although there were limitations to Alice's visions and Jasper's mood control, I had never found any flaws in Edward's mindreading.

"But it's _wrong_!" Rosalie shouted, breaking me out of my inner thoughts. "She's human! She shouldn't have to be in danger if it can be avoided; Edward could suddenly decide to turn her into one of us!"

"He wouldn't do that." I responded firmly. I had been surprised by the revelations about my son tonight, but I still knew without a doubt that Edward would not inflict this life on an innocent girl.

* * *

><p>Four days had passed since the meeting with the wolves and I had done all I could at the hospital, so we were planning on leaving for Alaska the following morning. I had barely seen Edward since Alice had told us what he had been up to, and although I had been at the hospital a lot I had a strong suspicion that he had been avoiding me.<p>

I knew that he was trying to delay our unavoidable conversation about Bella Swan, but I also had a strong suspicion that he had still been seeing the girl since our meeting with the pack. I just hoped that he had the sense to be discreet about his visits; the last thing we needed was for the wolves to find out that Edward had been around Bella again, especially now we knew that she was the wife of Ephraim Black's descendant. In my eyes, our departure could not come soon enough.

I was helping Esme pack the few belongings we had brought with us when I heard Jasper call me from the garage. I knew by the tone of his voice that it was something serious, so Esme and I ran down to join the rest of the family, who were already surrounding Alice at the side of her Porsche. All the family except for Edward, of course.

"Alice had a vision." Jasper explained when I caught his eye. I fixed my gaze on Alice, who was looking worried.

"Alice? What is it?" I asked calmly, taking a step towards her. "What did you see?"

"It's Edward… he's done something stupid." She replied slowly, making all of us exchange nervous glances. "The wolves are coming."

"Has he-" I began, meaning to ask if he had harmed Bella, but she cut me off with a shake of her head.

"No, Bella is fine." She said, and I let out a breath of relief. "He gave her a gift, and now the pack know he has been with her. I have a feeling they won't be happy about the gift."

"Or that Edward has still been seeing her after the way the wolves reacted at the meeting." I muttered, feeling irritated at my son's irresponsible behaviour. "Do we have time to leave before the wolves get here?"

"No, they're on their way now."

"And Edward?"

"He's nearby. He'll come to us when he hears the wolves' thoughts."

"What do we do?" Esme asked me, looking scared.

"We will go to the treaty line, and try to calm the situation before it gets any more out of hand." I told her, smiling reassuringly although I wasn't confident that it was a possibility. "Will Edward join us?" I asked Alice, knowing her vision would have changed now that I had made the decision for us to go to the treaty line.

"Yes, he's on his way to the clearing now."

I nodded, glad that Edward would be there as his abilities would come in handy whether the confrontation turned physical or not. "Then let's get going."

I caught Jasper's eye as we left the garage, and the two of us hung back whilst the others started to run towards La Push. Turning to him, I had the impression that he would already know what I was about to ask him.

"Will we be a match for the wolves?" I asked, not really wanting to know the answer.

"Edward's ability will be beneficial, but there will most likely be casualties." he told me calmly, embracing the military part of his personality. "I will do my best to keep the confrontation as calm as possible."

"Will it work on such a great scale?" I asked, unsure whether his mood control could work accurately on the wolves.

"I don't know, but it can't hurt to try." he replied, still keeping his face completely free from emotion.

"Well, let's go and find out." I told him, and we both ran to catch up with the rest of our family.


	27. Chapter 27

**All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.**

**CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN**

**BELLA POV**

The boys weren't happy that I was demanding to go with them but I wouldn't back down, so after a few minutes of arguing with Jake and Quil while Embry went to call the rest of the pack, they gave in.

"You're staying with me at _all _times though Bella, no exceptions."

"Of course."

"And if anything happens and I tell you to do something, or go somewhere, you listen to me."

"Okay." I agreed, not really sure what Jake was expecting to happen while he confronted Edward.

"Okay." Jake repeated, taking a deep breath while he continued to look at me. "Come on then, let's go."

The three of us walked outside, round to the back of the garage where Embry was already waiting in the trees in wolf form. When we were hidden from sight Jake started to take his clothes off, but Quil stopped and looked at me uncomfortably.

"What's up, don't you want me looking at little Quil?" I teased, making Jake laugh and Embry make a strange barking noise that I assumed was a laugh too.

"Well, do you want to get naked in front of me?" he responded quickly. This time Jake growled, but I just rolled my eyes and turned my attention on Embry. Running my fingers through his soft grey fur for a moment, I managed to calm down and almost forgot the reason why I was currently standing in the forest with the boys as wolves. Embry made a sort of purring noise and closed his eyes, but then I felt something wet on my arm and looked up to find a fluffy, russet coloured Jake trying to get my attention by pressing his nose against me. I laughed and turned to stroke him for a second, but then something even wetter touched my cheek and I realised it was the now chocolate brown Quil's tongue.

"Ewww, Quil!" I laughed, swatting him away playfully. Suddenly more wolves appeared through the trees, the biggest being a black wolf that I assumed was Sam. A slightly smaller silver wolf barged through the trees then, passing the others and making a beeline for me. I instantly knew it was Paul, as he came to me and snuffled my hair while I stroked the top of his head. Just as I was about to say hey, he turned abruptly and walked away and Jake came to my side, lying flat on the floor. It was strange to think that all the boys were communicating with each other while all I could hear were the birds rustling in the trees above us, but I realised he wanted me to climb on his back so we could get going. I clumsily clambered on, apologising as I was a little rough, but all he did was roll his eyes at me. Once I was comfy I told him so, and he carefully got to his feet, probably trying not to knock me off. After a backward glance Sam took off through the trees, closely followed by the rest of the pack.

Jake ran extremely fast, but I had a feeling they were holding back a little for my benefit. It was a strange sensation to be flying amongst the trees, riding something very warm and fluffy, but it was a good feeling. Soon enough we came to a stop in a sort of meadow, where I could hear a stream trickling somewhere nearby but could see no water. The wolves all stopped and Jake lay back down so that I could dismount him, and when I had scrambled off and got to my feet he phased back and winked at me as he covered his nakedness with a pair of denim cut offs. Walking towards me and taking my hand, we all made our way further through the trees. It must have looked quite comical; tiny little Bella Black surrounded by her huge husband and their enormous furry friends. I fought back the urge to laugh though, as I could feel the tension in the way Jake held my hand. His face was still set in a bitter anger that I hadn't seen before today, but every time he looked at me his expression softened and he squeezed my hand reassuringly.

"What's going to happen?" I whispered as quietly as I could, unsure whether I should be talking or not.

"Sam thinks we should stay calm and give the leeches a chance to leave before we break the treaty, so I'm going to stay in human form so that we can talk to them all at once."

"What do you mean talk to them all at once?" I asked, suddenly realising that the guys wouldn't be able to say a word to the vampires while they were in wolf form.

"Oh, sorry Bells, I keep forgetting you don't know much about all this. The leech that's been stalking you, he can read minds. That's how we usually communicate with them, through him."

"Oh my God!" I muttered, trying to think back over what my thoughts had been whilst Edward had been there. "I thought some horrible things about him though, why would he still want to be my friend?"

"I dunno Bells, I don't exactly understand how their minds work."

One of the wolves growled then, and Jake sniffed the air before turning to me with a disgusted look on his face.

"They're already here," he explained, "They must have seen us coming."

"How would they know-" I began, but Jake quickly cut me off.

"The little female can see the future." He told me casually as if that was a common ability to have, before turning completely serious. "Bells, please remember what I said earlier. Stay with me at all times and do as I say."

"Okay."

"Promise me."

"I promise."

With that he took my hand again and led me through the trees where the wolves had just disappeared from view. When I could see the rest of the pack again they were standing in a straight line facing away from us. I took a quick look at my surroundings and found that we were in a clearing, deep within the forest. Without hesitation Jake walked between two of the wolves, placing me behind him, and when I emerged from the walls of fur I finally saw the Cullens.

They too were standing in a line, with Carlisle in the middle. On one side of him was a woman who I assumed to be his wife Esme, and on his other side was Edward. All eyes turned to me as soon as I came into view.

"Do you think it was wise to bring Bella?" Edward asked with a look of concern on his face, and I heard a growl rumble in Jake's throat. I suddenly felt bad for putting him on the spot and demanding that he let me be here, but Jake didn't blame me when he replied.

"I think I know what is best for my wife." He replied coolly, before settling his gaze on Carlisle. "We would like to know why, after our last meeting, one of your coven has still been harassing my mate." I was surprised by the calm level of Jake's voice, as his hand was shaking violently in mine.

"Your _mate?_" Edward scoffed, taking a step towards us. "Typical dog; can't even treat his wife as a human being."

"But that is what she is; a human being. So what business do you have following her around? Planning on making her your next meal?" Jake asked with a snarl, before turning to me with an apologetic look as I gasped. It hadn't even crossed my mind until that moment how much danger I had been in every time Edward was near.

"Some of us have control of ourselves." Edward retorted with a bitter smile, and then he fixed his gaze on me. "I would never have hurt you Bella."

I didn't reply, but Jake and the wolves' growls warned him that they did not want him to speak directly to me. He opened his mouth to speak again, but Carlisle turned to look at him and he abruptly changed his mind.

Carlisle continued to stare at Edward for a few seconds, and I had to keep a firm grasp on Jake's hand to stop him stepping towards the Cullens. I knew my strength was no match for his, but I also knew Jake would never knowingly use his strength to overpower me. There seemed to be some silent discussion going on between Edward and Carlisle, but then Carlisle turned to speak to us.

"I apologise on behalf of my son, I did not realise that Bella is your imprint." Edward looked shocked, but Carlisle quickly continued. "As for my son's behaviour, I can assure you that I didn't know the extent of it until Alice told me that you would be coming to speak to us again. I can also assure you that it won't be happening again; we will be leaving Forks in the morning and won't be returning."

"And if there is another emergency at the hospital?" Jake asked, looking dubious about what Carlisle had just told him.

"Then I will only come back after seeking your permission. And I will travel alone."

"And your _son _understands and accepts this, does he?" Jake asked, clearly showing his disgust at the way Carlisle referred to Edward.

Carlisle paused for a moment and glanced briefly at Edward before replying. "I cannot honestly tell you that he accepts it, but he does understand. Therefore in time, he will come to accept it."

"Unlikely." Edward muttered, still staring at me. He was starting to make me feel uncomfortable again, and I was beginning to rediscover the anger from my earlier confrontation with him outside Charlie's house. There was a break in the discussion, and I seized the opportunity to question Edward myself now that he was in front of his family and had no way to avoid answering me.

"Why don't you tell my husband what it was you said to me today?" I said with a little too much aggression, taking everyone by surprise. When he hadn't spoken after a few seconds, I continued. "I think it was something about my husband being dangerous for me? And you seemed to imply that you would be a better match. Why exactly do you think that, Edward?"

"He is dangerous for you, everyone here knows it."

"Like _you _can talk!" Jake shouted, but Edward ignored him.

"We would be a much better match Bella, I could give you everything you ever wanted. You know I'm right, it's just the tribal voodoo that is blocking your vision."

Angry growls erupted around me as soon as Edward badmouthed the tribe. "You mean the imprint?" I asked, realising that my hands were also shaking in anger now. "Jake imprinting on me is the best thing that has ever happened to me. And as for your money, you can keep it. Nothing could make me happier than I am with Jake." Jake looked down at me and we shared a brief smile, but Edward's loud snort gained my attention again quickly.

"But it wasn't your choice, Bella. Perhaps if we had met sooner, you would've been just as happy with me."

"Yeah, because that would've ended well." I snorted sarcastically. "What exactly would the natural path for a relationship between a vampire and a human be? Would I be allowed to grow old and look like I was having a relationship with my grandson, or would I have to become one of you?" This seemed to hit a nerve, as Edward finally stopped staring at me and looked down at his feet instead. "I thought so. Can you not see that my relationship with Jake is much healthier for me? I don't have to change for him, but I can already see how much I would have to change for you."

Edward continued to gaze at his feet for a long time after I had finished my rant, finally silenced. It was Carlisle who spoke next.

"If it is okay with you, my family will go back to the house to finish packing now. We will be gone by morning; you can come to check if you like."

"That won't be necessary." Jake answered, still holding tightly onto my hand.

"Then this is farewell." Carlisle said with a smile. "Once again I apologise for any inconvenience our return has caused for you and your families, thank you for allowing us the chance to keep our part of the bargain again."

"Just try harder to keep it this time." Jake responded, turning to walk back amongst the wolves and placing me in front of him. Edward met my eyes one last time with a pained expression, then he turned and ran in the opposite direction to us. When Jake and I were safely back in the meadow with the wolves following behind us, he pulled me up into the air with a huge grin on his face.

"I love you!" he told me, kissing me happily. "You were great back there, where did that fire come from?"

"I dunno, I guess he just touched a nerve." I laughed, and he quickly joined in. After a minute he set me back on my feet, kissing the top of my head.

"Let's get home and celebrate the leeches leaving." He smiled, quickly pulling his shorts off and phasing into his wolf form. When he had once again laid flat on his belly so that I could climb onto his back, we all ran together to the edge of the forest beside the diner.

"I should've known you'd all be expecting to be fed after that!" I laughed as Jake let me get off of him, and a chorus of wolfy laughs erupted around me. I walked to the diner ahead of the boys, realising that if I stayed where I was any longer I would be surrounded by ten naked men. I had only managed to walk into the diner and announce our arrival to Emily before the boys all piled through the door, now fully clothed.

Emily still wouldn't let me do much other than pass ingredients, but I was really happy to have the whole pack together, looking carefree again like they had before the Cullens had returned. I filled Emily in on my perspective of the meeting, and she was shocked that I had even been allowed to go with the pack.

"Sam never lets me get involved with pack business." she told me with a hint of a frown on her face.

"He didn't have much choice, I kind of demanded that I be involved." I laughed.

"It's a good thing you did too, there is no way we would've kept our cool like that if you weren't there." Paul spoke up from behind me. "Plus you did all the hard work for us!" he laughed, ruffling my hair as he stole a handful of the fries that Emily was dishing up beside me.

When the boys had been fed, Paul announced that he still wanted movie night and the rest of the pack decided to join us too. We all somehow packed into our house; most of the boys occupying the floor in front of the TV as there weren't enough seats for all of us. Jake wanted to be as close to me as possible so I spent most of the night sitting on his lap while we all watched The Lost Boys; Quil's choice so that the guys could all laugh at the vampires. I went to bed that night feeling relieved that I wouldn't be seeing Edward again, and hopeful that no other vampires would be coming near La Push so that the boys didn't need to be in danger.


	28. Chapter 28

**CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT**

**BELLA POV**

A couple of weeks had passed since the meeting with the Cullens, and they had kept their promise to move away. Today was the day of Quil Ateara's 21st birthday, and Jake and I had planned a big party for him involving the whole pack. Emily and I had prepared a typical wolf pack feast at the diner, and the boys had organised a bonfire on the beach for afterwards. I knew it would mean a lot to Quil for Claire to be there, so Emily had offered to look after her for the day so that her brother and his wife could spend some time alone together.

Sure enough, Quil was over the moon when he arrived at the diner to find all his favourite people, and all his favourite foods, waiting for him. He was particularly pleased that I had made him some of my now famous pancakes; he came to the diner every morning for his breakfast and always requested an extra-large portion with syrup.

We all stayed at the diner until it had gone dark outside, eating every last crumb of food and chatting and laughing together. I noticed that Jacob seemed to be spending a lot of time with the others and had rarely even looked at me, which was odd. I put it to the back of my mind and tried to enjoy Quil's party, but I couldn't shake the nagging feeling that something wasn't right.

When it was time for us to go to the beach, Kim volunteered to go home with the kids so that they could all go to sleep. Quil's eyes lit up when he realised the 'adult only fun' could begin.

We made our way to the beach armed with enough of Old Quil's wolf liqueur to get the boys drunk, as well as several crates of beer. The party games instantly got underway, starting with 'I've Never'. It didn't go unnoticed by me that whilst the other girls cuddled with their wolves around the fire, Jake once again avoided me. I decided to ignore him, taking a seat next to Quil.

Thanks to my newly discovered sexual appetite with Jake, I ended up getting really drunk during the game, much to the delight of Quil.

"I've never had sex in a public place" Seth said, and everyone looked shocked when I took yet another drink.

"I'm starting to think that we must be a bad influence on you, Mrs Black!" Quil laughed as I swayed a little. "A few months ago Bella was practically a virgin, now she's the kinkiest one out of all of us! Except maybe Paul." He added when he noticed how much alcohol Paul had got through too.

"OK, new game before Bella passes out!" Emily laughed, steadying me as I swayed again. Usually Jake would have been at my side keeping me warm now it had gone dark, but he was sitting at the other side of the fire next to Sam. He was watching me with a concerned look on his face, and I was surprised he hadn't demanded for me to stop drinking and go home yet. We hadn't spoken all day.

"What do you want to play, Bella?" Quil asked me, still seeming shocked at what I had revealed about myself so far tonight.

"Let's go swimming!" I yelled, knowing that would piss Jake off. He looked as though he was going to protest, so I quickly stripped down to my bikini and ran to the sea before he could stop me. To my disappointment though he didn't even attempt to stop me, returning to his conversation with Sam instead. Everyone else copied me and followed me into the cold water, leaving Jake and Sam alone by the fire.

We all splashed about for a while, wrestling and dunking one another until it was too cold for Emily or me to stand it anymore. The two of us walked back to the fire to get warm, and I noticed Jake and Sam had both vanished. Emily didn't point it out, so I didn't comment either. We sat in silence for a while, watching the boys still wrestling in the water.

"What's wrong, Bella? I can tell there's something on your mind tonight." She asked quietly, turning to face me. I thought about denying that there was anything on my mind, but I really needed to speak to someone about it.

"Jake's being off with me. I know everyone says your relationship changes once you're married, but we've only been married for three months for God's sake! He can't be sick of me already, can he?" my voice broke on the last word and I felt hot tears begin to fall down my face.

"Oh sweetie, I didn't know you were feeling like this! I'm sure Jake doesn't realise he's acting different with you because I know he still loves you. Have you spoken to him about it?"

I shook my head. "He's been avoiding me all day, we haven't even said a word to each other. It's like he's keeping something really bad to himself, but I don't understand what can have changed so much in a day!"

Just then Paul started to head up the beach, instantly noticing that I was upset.

"Shortie, what's up?" he asked, running up to me and putting an arm around my shoulders. I didn't answer for a few minutes, but I noticed him sniffing me. I ignored it at first, but then he began to do it again even more obviously. Even Emily was giving him a strange look.

"You see I'm upset, so you make out that I stink? Is that supposed to cheer me up?" I asked him angrily. He looked shocked, but then a strange expression crossed his face.

"I know this is a really private question and it will sound weird coming from me, but do you and Jake use protection?"

I felt my face turn bright red, and got even angrier. "So what, I smell like sex with Jake? Is that what you're trying to tell me?"

"No, that's not what I'm trying to tell you." He said, not seeming to feel any of the embarrassment that I was consumed by. "Just answer the question."

I stared at him for a long moment but he didn't back down. "I'm on the pill." I mumbled quietly, turning away from him to see if anyone else was listening to our conversation. They all still seemed preoccupied in the water.

"And you don't use any extra precautions?"

"No, why should I?" I asked angrily, turning to face him again. Suddenly a thought struck me. "Shit, I haven't got some sort of disease from Jake that you can smell have I?" That would explain why Jake was avoiding me.

Paul laughed at that. "Wolves, remember? We don't get sick."

"Then what is it?" I asked, feeling frustrated.

"It's not really my place to say, you should wait till Jake gets back. He'll tell you."

I snorted in annoyance, turning away from him again and shrugging away from his arm. He took the hint and walked back to the others, and I saw him grab Rachel and kiss her deeply. He threw a smile over in my direction, which irritated me even more. His eyes then moved past me, and I turned to see what he was looking at. Jake and Sam had appeared at the edge of the forest, both grinning ear to ear. Why was everyone suddenly so happy? I hadn't seen Jake crack a genuine smile all day, and all of a sudden he looked ecstatic! I didn't know whether to feel relieved or pissed off.

**JACOB POV**

I had been worrying about it all day. I barely paid attention to anything during the party I had helped plan for Quil; it was all I could think about. How could I tell Bells? How could I tell anyone? Everyone loved Bells, so this would hurt them all almost as much as it hurt me.

I had tried to avoid Bells as much as possible since I had first noticed the change this morning, but it was killing me to be away from her. I didn't want to worry her with the things I was thinking, so I did my best to stay with the guys so she could enjoy the party with the girls.

She had looked so happy all day, but only I could tell it was forced. I could tell she was angry and confused, not knowing why I was staying away from her, so at the bonfire I realised I couldn't keep it to myself any longer. When Bells suggested swimming I wanted nothing more than to pick her up and take her home to bed, but I took the opportunity to speak to Sam instead.

"What's worrying you, Jake?" he asked when everyone was out of earshot.

"That obvious?" I tried to joke, but it didn't help ease my tension. "It's Bells." I admitted, unsure how to explain to him what had happened. "I think she's ill. Like, seriously ill." His face remained a calm mask, but I saw the glimpse of panic that flashed in his eyes.

"What makes you think that?" he asked, showing no sign of emotion.

"I know this sounds crazy, but she smells different. I noticed this morning when we were in bed." I told him, avoiding his gaze for fear of what I would see there.

After a few minutes of silence my curiosity won the battle against my fear, and I looked up to finally take in his expression. I definitely wasn't expecting him to be smiling.

"What?" I asked, irritated that he wasn't taking me seriously.

"Come with me." Was all he said in reply, as he stood up and walked towards the forest. I glanced back at Bells and, satisfied that she was safe with the others, followed Sam into the trees. As soon as we were out of sight he pulled his shorts off.

"What do we need to phase for?"

"I need to show you something, and I can only do it in wolf form."

I was annoyed at how vague he was being but quickly stripped off and phased, hoping that whatever he was showing me would help Bella.

_A few years ago, I went through a similar thing with Emily. All of a sudden her scent changed, and it scared me to death. Does this scent remind you of Bella's new scent?_

He sent me his memory of a scent, which I instantly recognised as Emily's. Emily and Bells usually smelled very different to me, and although I could smell Emily's usual scent, it _was_ strangely familiar to Bella's new scent.

_Yeah, it smells similar somehow. It's like, Bella's normal scent is still there but there's something extra there too. What the hell is that? It's not… cancer is it?_

I started to panic at the thought of Bella seriously ill in a hospital bed, but then I realised that Emily had never to my knowledge been in hospital apart from when Sam had accidentally hurt her, and when she had Sammy.

_That was Emily's scent when she was pregnant with Sammy. It's actually her scent at the moment, too. _He told me calmly, giving me a minute to get my head around what he had said.

_You mean… Bella's pregnant?_

_I believe so, but I won't know for sure because I don't know Bella's scent well enough to notice the slight change. Obviously I'd get her to do one of those tests, but we should be able to hear an extra heartbeat soon enough._

I quickly thought about what he had said, and realised I hadn't picked up on something.

_You said that's Emily's scent now?_

_Yeah, she's pregnant again. We were going to tell you all in a couple of weeks before you could hear the heartbeat._

_Wow. Congratulations, man._

_Thanks. I think congratulations are due to you, too! How do you feel?_

I didn't even need to think about my answer, and I was sure Sam could already see all the images of Bella holding a baby going through my mind.

_Over the moon. _I told him, feeling the wolfy grin stretch across my face. _I've gotta get back and tell Bells…_

_Yeah, let's get going. _He agreed. We both quickly phased back, got dressed and walked back out onto the beach. I was still grinning like an idiot, until I noticed the glare Bella was giving me from her seat by the fire. She had been crying.

"Honey, what's wrong?" I asked, sprinting to her side and pulling her into my arms. It had been far too long since I had touched her, but to my shock she pulled away from me.

"Like you care!" she yelled, gaining the attention of the rest of the pack who were still in the sea.

"Of course I care Bells, why would you say something like that?" I asked her, glancing quickly to Emily for any explanation of Bella's sudden anger. She was looking at Sam, seeming uncomfortable.

Bella snorted, dragging my attention back to the angry glare I was receiving from her beautiful chocolate eyes. "Do you really need to ask after the way you've behaved around me today? You've been acting like I have some disgusting infectious disease or something."

Pain hit me like a bullet in the chest when I realised I had been neglecting my imprint. "I have something I need to tell you." I told her, taking a deep breath. I was unsure how she would take this news in her current angry state.

"No shit!" she shouted sarcastically, looking if possible even more pissed off.

"I think you're pregnant." I blurted out, watching her face closely. She looked shocked briefly, then hurt.

"And you don't want it?"

"Of course I want it! I want you to have my baby more than anything!" I told her, grabbing both of her hands in one of mine and stroking her face with the other.

"Then why have you been so distant?"

"I thought you were ill Bells, and I couldn't handle it. I didn't want to worry you until I knew exactly what was wrong, but I knew I couldn't hide it from you."

We sat and stared at each other for a long moment while she processed all the information I had just given her, and she started to laugh.

"That's what you could smell?" she asked, turning to Paul who had joined us at the fire. He laughed and nodded, and she turned back to me. "I thought you'd given me an STD!" she told me, still laughing. I laughed with her, glad that she was back to the usual happy Bella.

"We can't get diseases-" I started, but she cut me off.

"The wolf thing, I know." She stopped laughing and looked at me seriously for a moment. "So… we're going to have a baby?" she finally asked me, a small smile gracing her lips.

"Yep," I told her, grinning again. "At least, my wolfy sense of smell seems to think so. We'll still have to get you a proper test."

"Oh please, when are your wolfy senses ever wrong about anything?" she laughed, pulling her hands away from mine to wrap them around my neck.

"Wait a minute, how come Paul knew but I didn't notice?" Quil suddenly interrupted from somewhere behind me.

"Because the change in the scent is so discreet that only those who know the original scent particularly well will notice the difference. None of you ever noticed Em was pregnant, but Paul and Bella have spent a lot of time together." Sam told him, making sense of the situation. "The protective nature of the imprint made Jake instantly think the worst, whereas Paul realised straight away what the change was."

"What does she smell like?" Quil asked, still sounding confused.

"Like Bella, with a hint of Jake." Paul laughed, and I saw him move towards us to pat me on the back and kiss Bells. "Congratulations, guys!"

The rest of the pack joined in, and I gave Sam and Emily a meaningful look.

"I'm pregnant too!" Emily blurted out, turning to grin at Bells. "I can't believe our babies will be born nearly the same time!"

"They can be best friends!" Bells laughed, looking happier than I had ever seen her. When everyone had calmed down, I sat down in the sand and pulled her onto my lap.

"I love you." She told me, kissing my nose sweetly.

"I love you, more than anything."


	29. Chapter 29

**All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer**

**CHAPTER TWENTY NINE**

**JACOB POV**

Time seemed to switch to fast forward after the night we found out about Bella's pregnancy, and before I could even get my head around what was happening, three months had already passed. Bells didn't want to tell Charlie our news until after the twelve week scan, and somehow the pack had so far managed not to speak about the baby when he was around. There was no hiding the news from Billy of course, so we told him right away and he was over the moon to find out that he was going to be a granddad for the first time. I could tell he was really excited for Charlie to find out too, and we were planning on telling him straight after the scan.

Although to the human eye the changes in Bella were probably not even noticeable, I recognised every tiny detail. Her stomach was slightly swollen, as were her breasts, which Quil had also noticed and I had caught him staring at them several times. I wanted to make a start on buying things for the baby, but Bella refused to buy anything until she was more than three months pregnant so that we knew the baby was healthy.

This morning we had finally been to the hospital for her first scan, and I was ecstatic to learn that the baby was progressing well, and that there were no problems. After the scan I had dropped Bella off at the diner before heading back to work at the garage; she was cooking dinner for Charlie tonight so that we could tell him the happy news. I was working underneath an old Ford when I heard someone come into the shop, and recognised Sam's voice as he greeted Embry and Quil.

"Hey Sam, what brings you down here?" I asked as I pulled myself out from under the car and got to my feet.

"Just came round to see how the scan went?" he asked, taking a seat by the door to the office as I walked over to him.

"He's having a healthy pup!" Quil shouted, making us all laugh. When I had got back to the garage and told Embry and Quil that everything with the baby was fine, Quil had gotten pretty excited and had spent the last couple of hours talking about my 'pup'.

"That's great, man." Sam told me, patting me on the back when I was near enough. "You get the due date?"

"Yeah, 21st July." I told him with a grin.

"Our kids will be pretty close together then, Em's due on the 13th." He told me.

"Oh good, at least I'll be able to see you go through everything first then." I laughed. Although I was completely over the moon at the thought of Bella having my baby, I was already worried that I would end up being a crappy dad.

"Don't worry about it man, you'll be great." Sam laughed, somehow knowing what I was thinking about. "It's scary shit up till the baby's born, then as soon as it's here everything will just come naturally to you."

"I hope so."

I got home from work to find that Bella's truck was already on the drive, as was Charlie's cruiser, and when I opened the front door I was greeted by the familiar smells of Bella's delicious cooking. Walking through to the back of the house, I found her in the kitchen, hovering over the stove while Charlie sat at the table with a beer.

"Hey Jake." Charlie said happily when I entered the room. Bells looked over her shoulder and waved at me with a wooden spoon, before turning back to the oven.

"Hey Charlie, how was work?" I asked him as I crossed the room to wash my hands, kissing the top of Bella's head as I passed her.

"Not bad, pretty quiet lately to tell the truth. How're things at the garage?"

"They're good," I told him, turning to face him and grabbing a towel to dry my hands, "Pretty busy but nothing we can't handle."

"Well that's good." He replied, as I sneaked a glance at Bella. We knew each other so well these days that we could communicate quite well without even speaking, so I gave her a meaningful look and nodded to Charlie. She knew I was asking when she planned on telling him our news, and nodded her head to the food in answer. Understanding that she wanted to wait until he had eaten, I smiled at her then placed the towel back on the counter.

"I'm just gonna go get changed real quick." I told them both, before heading back out of the room and running up the stairs to change my oil-covered shirt.

"Dinner will be ready in 5!" Bells called after me, and I noticed that she sounded slightly nervous.

When I got back downstairs Bells was trying to get some plates from the top of a cupboard, so I reached over her head and handed them to her before getting a drink from the fridge. She dished up as I set the table, then just as I sat down she placed a large steak and fries in front of me; Charlie's favourite. That detail wasn't missed by him.

"Trying to butter me up for something, Bells?" he chuckled, grabbing the salt shaker. Bella looked at me as she sat down but didn't reply to Charlie, and the silence certainly answered his question for him. "What is it?" he asked, stopping what he was doing to look between the two of us.

"Nothing bad!" Bella quickly reassured him, and I saw him relax a little. She looked at me for a long minute, and I grabbed her hand in an attempt to support her. She smiled and took a deep breath, before blurting out too quickly, "I'm pregnant!"

It was a good thing Charlie hadn't started eating yet, because I was sure from the look on his face that he would've choked. He stared at her for a long moment, then at me, then back to Bells while we both sat there grinning at him like idiots.

"Since when?" he asked, seemingly unable to form a longer sentence.

"I had my twelve week scan today, and everything is fine. I'm due July 21st."

He continued to stare at us for a little while longer, then I let out a sigh of relief when I saw his moustache begin to twitch. A second later he was grinning from ear to ear.

"I'm going to be a grandpa?" he asked, to which we both nodded. He seemed to ponder this for a second before he asked his next question. "Does Billy know?"

An awkward look passed across Bella's face, so I quickly answered. "I told him earlier."

I expected Charlie to look hurt that we hadn't told him sooner, but he continued to grin. "Can I go and call him?" he asked, looking like an excited child.

"Sure, sure." I laughed, but Bella shook her head.

"Eat your steak first dad, then you can call Billy."

He nodded and picked his knife and fork up quickly. He ate the steak at a pace to rival us wolves, then ran from the table to the phone in the next room. Bella and I laughed as we listened to him hurriedly dial the number, and I heard dad answer the phone from the other end.

"Hello?"

"Well hello there, Grandpa Black!"

* * *

><p>Bells was now five months pregnant, and I couldn't believe how much her stomach had grown. Her petite frame was completely swamped by the huge bump, which already looked fit to burst.<p>

She was already struggling to do normal everyday things like tying her shoelaces, and it clearly annoyed her that she was having to rely on me more and more; not that I minded. I really wanted her to stop working as I knew how clumsy she was, and the added inches around her waist only seemed to make her worse. The last thing I wanted was for her to have an accident while she was at the diner, but she stubbornly refused to stay at home, not that I expected her to. The pack was therefore on a strict routine; each one of us visited the diner at various times during the day to check that everything was alright. Bells was wise to the fact that I was behind this, but she didn't complain. She knew I just wanted to be sure that she, and the baby, were both healthy and safe.

Emily was just over a week further into her pregnancy than Bells, and although her stomach was larger than that of a normal five months pregnant woman, it wasn't as big as Bella's. This caused constant jokes amongst the pack that our baby was going to be huge, but this alarmed Bella so I had to make them all promise to stop teasing her about her ever-expanding bump.

One day when I got to work late because Bells had refused to let me help her with getting dressed and getting down the stairs, I was shocked to find that Quil was already there but Embry had not turned up yet. This was strange, as Embry was usually there before me every day and Quil was nearly always late.

"Where's Embry?" I asked him as I checked the list of cars we needed to get finished today.

"He called me earlier and asked me to get in early, said he was going to be a bit late."

"Did he say why?"

"No, just said he'd be in about 11."

I thought about calling Bells to see if Jackie was at the diner, but decided against it and got to work on an old Volkswagen instead. Sure enough at 11am, the door opened and Embry strolled in with a huge grin on his face.

"I'm glad you're happy about being late!" I called out as I looked up from under the hood of the car. "Where've you been?"

"I proposed to Jackie." He told me, still grinning from ear to ear. I straightened up and made my way over to him.

"Congrats, man!" I told him as I gave him a one-armed hug. "I take it from the look on your face that she said yes?"

"Course she said yes, how could she not?" he laughed.

"Nice one, dude!" Quil told him, and the two of them hugged. "So I'll be the last of the three musketeers to settle down." He added with a grin.

"Quil, when have we ever called ourselves the three musketeers?" I laughed, shoving him playfully.

Once we had all settled down and got back to work, Embry questioned me about my relationship with Bells.

"Jake, what's married life actually like? Please tell me it doesn't all go downhill after the wedding!" he laughed, but I could tell he was being serious.

"You mean sexually? Well Jake got Bella knocked up quick enough!" Quil shouted as he popped up from underneath the car next to me. "And after her revelations on my birthday, I'd say they still do it a lot!"

I smacked him across the head with a laugh, before answering Embry's question myself. "Everything's great after you get married, don't worry. I love being married to Bells, it's even better now than it was before the wedding if that's possible." Embry seemed satisfied with my answer, so Quil changed the subject.

"How're Bella and the pup doing?" he asked me with a grin. My unborn son or daughter was never referred to as a baby anymore; he or she was known as 'the pup' amongst the pack and I wasn't sure if I liked the nickname or not.

"They're both doing great." I answered, unable to keep the proud smile from my face. "To say how big Bells is already, she's handling it really well. I'm just really nervous about how big she's gonna get by nine months, she's still got another four to go."

"Are you gonna find out the sex?" Embry asked me.

"No, we both decided to let it be a surprise."

"I think I'd rather leave it as a surprise." Quil said, looking thoughtful for once.

"Well you've got quite a while to decide dude!" I laughed. Quil's imprint was still only 7 years old, after all.

"If Claire's ever stupid enough to be with you." Embry pointed out and we both laughed at the confused look on his face.

* * *

><p>Bella was now seven months pregnant, and if I thought her bump was big before, it was now <em>huge. <em>Her stomach looked abnormally large against her small frame, but she still looked healthy and happy as ever, and I rarely ever heard her complain. Charlie was convinced that the doctors had made a mistake and that Bella was actually expecting twins, but thanks to my superhuman hearing I knew without a doubt that we were only having one baby.

Embry and Jackie had set the date for their wedding, which would be taking place on the beach at the end of June. Both Quil and I had been asked to be Embry's best men, as like me, he didn't want to choose between us. Quil was really happy about this, and now regularly referred to us as the 'three musketeers', much to the rest of the pack's amusement.

Jackie had asked Bells and Emily to be bridesmaids, even though they would both be more than 8 months pregnant by the wedding day. As they were both currently being forced to spend most of the day sitting down, they had effectively become Jackie's wedding planners too.

Bella had almost fallen over a couple of weeks ago, but luckily Paul had been on his scheduled visit to the diner and had caught her before she hit the floor. Therefore the girls were now under constant watch by a member of the pack or the imprints, as Sam and I were both paranoid that something bad would happen if they were left alone. Bella thankfully agreed with me after her near miss, so she promised to stay sitting down as much as possible, especially when none of the pack were around.

Paul was just as worried for Bella as I was, and told me that he planned to spend as much time as possible at the diner. I wanted to take some time off work to do my fair share of 'Bella patrolling' as the pack now called it, but we needed the money, and I was already planning on cutting down my hours once the baby arrived.

Even through the worries about Bella's safety, I was looking forward to meeting my son or daughter more than anything. Bella was convinced we were having a boy and we were starting to discuss possible names, but I had a strong gut feeling that the baby was going to be a girl. Quil had made a serious bet with Embry that the baby would come out a wolf, and Embry hadn't been sure whether to take the bet or not at first.

"I'll feel bad about taking his money, though." He told me, after telling me the details of the bet Quil had proposed.

I made a mental note to get Sam to alpha order Quil not to mention his prediction to Bella before I responded. She was already scared about how big our baby was going to be, so the last thing I needed was for Quil to panic her with his ridiculous ideas."If he's stupid enough to make the bet, he deserves to lose the money."


	30. Chapter 30

**All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer**

**CHAPTER THIRTY**

**JACKIE POV**

It was the day of my wedding to Embry, and I couldn't be more excited. Bella offered for me to get ready at her house beforehand as she lives closest to the beach where we were getting married, and so that is where all the girls were while the boys were at mine and Embry's house. I just hoped Embry was as excited and nerve free as I was. Nothing could ruin my big day.

I was just having the finishing touches done to my hair in the kitchen, when I heard a scream coming from upstairs where Bella and Emily had just gone to change into their bridesmaid dresses. Panicking that something bad had happened as both of them were heavily pregnant and not supposed to be left alone, I jumped up from my seat and ran up the stairs as fast as I could.

"What? What's happened?" I yelled as I burst into Bella's bedroom, where the shout had come from. My heart was beating a million times a minute in panic, but when I took in the scene before me my emotion quickly turned to a mixture of relief and irritation.

"What's wrong?" Rachel shouted as she flew into the room behind me, closely followed by Kim. When like me, they had both established what was going on, Rachel shook her head and headed back out of the room announcing, "I'm going back to get my makeup finished." Kim remained where she was, fighting back a giggle.

"What the hell is wrong with you two?" I asked, sitting down on the edge of the bed to get my breath back. "You almost gave me a heart attack; I thought something was happening with one of the babies…"

"Look at the _state _of me!" Emily shouted as she stared into the full length mirror before her, glaring at my reflection angrily before studying herself again. Bella stood right beside her, looking a little upset and playing with her dress awkwardly.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, looking her dress up and down for any stains or tears. Finding that the lilac dress was still as immaculate as it had been in the store, I met her gaze again. "The dress is perfect you lunatic."

"Not the dress!" she spat, as if that was obvious. "Look at me! I look like a fat pig or something!"

"Well if you look like a fat pig, I must look like a fat cow!" Bella exclaimed, placing her hand over her huge bump as if to compare it to Emily's. She was right about being bigger than Emily, but both of them looked beautiful and glowing. No one would ever say they were fat.

"Stop being ridiculous, the pair of you! You both look incredible; Sam and Jake are going to love it after seeing you in nothing but sweatpants for the last few months!"

I was trying to cheer them up, but my words clearly had the opposite effect on Emily. She turned around to face me with a speed I didn't think she was capable of in her condition, glaring at me with an intensity I hadn't seen from her before.

"Don't you think I know I look hideous? Don't you think I know that Sam can't stand the sight of me anymore? It's alright for you," she said, gesturing to me with her hand angrily, "_You_ still look beautiful and _thin._"

"I'm not pregnant though!" I laughed, but she clearly wasn't ready to laugh with me. "I'm not saying you're fat because you're not at all; you're just… pregnant!" I said, unable to think of a better description. "You're beautiful and glowing, both of you, and I know from Embry that the guys still find you both very sexy. They both love the way you look right now!"

Emily snorted and turned back to the mirror, but Bella smiled weakly and came to sit beside me.

"I can't take standing up for very long." She explained, but I already knew this from spending time with her at the diner.

"I know; that's why I've got reinforcements coming to escort you both." I told her. Jake was one of Embry's best men and would need to stay with him until we got there, so I had arranged for Sam and Paul to come and help us get Emily and Bella to the beach. There was a knock at the door downstairs then, effectively ending our conversation.

"I'll go answer that; Rach is still getting her makeup done." Kim told me, turning to walk back out of the room. "You both look great." She added with a smile, before disappearing down the stairs.

"That'll be the escorts." Bella laughed, trying to stand up but failing.

"I need to go and get my dress from downstairs so I'll send them up to help you." I told her, glancing briefly at Emily who was still checking out her reflection. Hopefully her husband could help her calm down enough to stop her hysterics in time for the wedding, and it looked like Paul would probably need to help Bella up from the bed.

**PAUL POV**

Sam and I had literally just walked into Jake's house when Jackie came running down the stairs, grabbing a dress bag that was hanging from the kitchen door.

"You two are needed upstairs." She told us, rolling her eyes.

"What's going on?" Sam asked, probably worrying something was wrong with Emily or the baby.

"Emily's having a fat moment and Bella's stuck on the bed." She laughed, already heading back up the stairs. "I'm gonna get into my dress then we're ready to go, Kim can you help me?"

We followed Kim and Jackie up the stairs, and Jackie pointed us towards Jake and Bella's bedroom as she and Kim headed into the bathroom. As soon as we had cleared the doorframe, Sam strode straight over to Emily who was staring at herself in the mirror with an angry expression on her face.

"Hey babe, you look incredible!" he announced as he wrapped his arms around her, but she only rolled her eyes. I saw that Bella was indeed stuck on the bed, trying in vain to heave herself up from the mattress.

"Need a hand shortie?" I asked with a chuckle, but the glare I received from Emily made me straighten my face as I lifted Bella from the bed and placed her gently back on her feet. Feeling the tension in the room, I looked over to Sam who looked a little nervous. Not wanting to be here if Emily decided to start shouting, I quickly turned back to Bella. "C'mon let's get you downstairs, Jackie says we'll be leaving in a few minutes."

I bent down to pick her up so that I could carry her down the stairs, but she put her hands out to stop me.

"I can walk by myself you know." She said stubbornly.

"And when was the last time you tried to walk down the stairs by yourself?" I asked, giving her a knowing look. I had heard from Jake that she hadn't been able to get up or down the stairs without help since she was 5 months pregnant, and she was now over 8 months gone.

She glared at me for several seconds, probably thinking of the true answer to my question. "Fine." She eventually muttered, holding her arms up to loop them around my neck while I carried her down to the living room, where Rach was now ready and waiting with Jackie's parents.

I placed Bella on the sofa while I greeted Rachel, who looked beautiful as always. "Hey babe, you look amazing." I told her as I pulled her into an embrace, kissing her hair.

"Don't ruin my hairdo!" she laughed, shoving me away slightly. "I was sat on that stool for over an hour while I had this done!" she told me, pointing to the curls that were pinned up at the back of her head. I kept my arm around her waist while we waited for the others to come downstairs, keeping my distance from her hair and makeup.

Emily and Sam eventually emerged from the bedroom; Emily looking her usual happy self while Sam now looked a little pissed off. I felt bad for him; I had a strong suspicion that Emily was bipolar while she was pregnant. In contrast, Bella had almost constantly been smiling since the day on the beach when she had found out she was expecting.

Sam and I argued with the girls when they announced that they were walking to the beach, knowing that they would wear themselves out with the effort. Of course we won eventually and loaded them into my truck for the short drive to the car park beside Bella's diner.

When we arrived at the beach everyone was already there, and Jake made his way over to us, leaving Embry at the altar to wait with Quil. We had all been asked to walk our imprints down the aisle, so once Jackie was ready to go Rach and I led the way towards the altar. I gave her a quick kiss before she took her place at the front, while I took a seat next to Seth and Amber. Jared and Kim came down the aisle next, followed by Sam and Emily, then Jake and Bella who took their places at either side of the altar, right behind Jackie and Embry. The ceremony was thankfully short, so not long after we had walked down the aisle we were following the newly married couple down the beach for photos.

We each had a photo with our imprint, then there were lots of group shots of the whole pack. When Jackie asked for a photo with her bridesmaids, the photographer told Emily and Bella to stand at either end to 'balance it out'. This of course didn't go down too well with Emily who had been complaining about the size of her bump all day. The photographer ended up earning himself a few choice words from Emily, which provided lots of entertainment for the rest of us.

The traditional pack bonfire afterwards was pretty much the same as always, except for the fact that a lot of the conversation revolved around babies. Bella and Emily were fast asleep by 10pm, which was hardly surprising as they had insisted on trying to keep up with everyone else all day. The rest of us ate and partied all night, and I had a really great time, happy that Embry was now as happy as I am with Rachel.

**BELLA POV**

Embry and Jackie's wedding was beautiful, and the beach setting brought back lots of happy memories from mine and Jake's wedding, almost a year before. The only problem was that with the current size of my bump, my feet and back were killing me after half an hour and I had to spend the rest of the day sitting down.

At the bonfire afterwards the conversation instantly focused on baby Black and baby Uley who would soon be joining the pack. Emily and I both had less than a month to go to our due dates, and for Emily at least I knew the baby couldn't come soon enough. I was quite happy being pregnant, apart from the obvious limitations I had to cope with like not being able to stand up by myself, and the constant exhaustion I felt.

"So what are these babies going to be called? Have you thought of any names?" Jared asked as we all sat around the fire.

"Lily if it's a girl or Levi if it's a boy." Emily answered quickly, smiling at Sam.

"What about the pup, Bella?" Quil asked, and I glared at him before answering. I didn't like the fact that our unborn baby already had a nickname, and I hoped the pack would stop using it by the time I had given birth.

"Charlie William." I told him, and Jake squeezed my hand. We wanted to name our baby after our parents, and I was completely sure we would have a boy.

"What about if it's a girl?" Embry asked, glancing at Jake. The guys will no doubt already know that Jake disagreed with me; he was convinced we would be having a girl.

"He won't be a girl." I told him with a grin.

"But how do you know that?" Quil piped up then, looking confused.

"I just…have a feeling I guess. I can't really explain it."

"So you're not even going to think of a girls' name?" Rachel asked us, sounding shocked.

"Yeah, we have a girls' name." Jake replied from behind me, but I shook my head.

"He won't be a girl." I repeated stubbornly, and I saw Rachel glance at Jake over my head.

"Sarah Renee." He announced, and Rachel smiled.

"That's nice, dad will like that."

I was about to protest again that we were going to have a son, but gave up and shrugged my shoulders instead.

I must have fallen asleep at some point after that, because when I woke up I was being carried through my front door by Jake.

"Oh, good evening Mrs Black." He laughed, bending over to kiss me as he closed the door behind us.

"How long have I been asleep?" I asked him, rubbing my eyes.

"Well you were asleep before 10, and it is now…" he paused to look at the clock on the wall before continuing, "2:30."

"You're joking! Why didn't you wake me up?"

"Well you were obviously tired, it's been a long day." He replied with a smile. "Anyway, you need as much rest as you can get, I've told you that loads of times but you never listen."

"I do listen, I just don't like to spend too much time sleeping." I replied with a yawn.

"Well it'd be much easier if you would, at least then I'd know you were safe." He said as he began to walk up the stairs, but began to backpedal when he saw the irritation on my face. "Not that I want you on bed rest or anything, it's amazing that you can still do so much in your condition."

I rolled my eyes at his attempt to cheer me up again, as he placed me gently onto our bed.

"Anyway, it's our one year anniversary in a few days Mrs Black." He said with a grin as he quickly undressed and got into bed beside me.

"I know it is, Mr Black. Don't think I'll be up to much celebrating if I can't even stay awake till 10pm at a wedding though." I told him as I pulled my dress off and threw it onto the chair at the side of the bed.

"Don't worry, I've already got everything covered." He told me mysteriously, grinning as I scowled at him.

"And let me guess, you're not going to tell me anything?"

"Nope," he said, grinning even wider, "It's a surprise."

"I don't like surprises." I muttered, getting comfy under the sheet as Jake wrapped his arms around me.

"So you keep saying, but you'll like this surprise. I promise."


	31. Chapter 31

**CHAPTER THIRTY ONE**

**JACOB POV**

It was mine and Bella's first wedding anniversary, but as she was now only three days from her due date I knew she wasn't up to doing anything too exciting. I had wanted to take her back to Hawaii for a second honeymoon before I found out she was pregnant, but that will have to wait until the baby is a little older. I also wanted to take her for a meal at the restaurant where we had our first date, but even the trip to Port Angeles would be too much for Bells right now.

Bells was spending the day at the diner with the girls as I had told her that I had things to do at the garage, but in actual fact I had taken the day off to prepare for tonight. Emily had been giving me cooking lessons for weeks to prepare me for part one of my plans; I wanted to cook a delicious meal for Bells to say thank you for all the amazing food she had made for me ever since we met at the diner on the day I imprinted. After many secret hours in the kitchen with Emily I was finally confident that Bella would enjoy my lasagne, which was what I was currently preparing in the kitchen. For dessert I was making apple pie; Bells had been craving apples a lot recently so I knew she would appreciate it.

After the meal I was planning on running Bella a bath with lots of bubbles so that she could relax. Again with Emily's help I had decorated our bathroom with dozens of candles, scattered the floor with rose petals and Emily had brought me some girly bubble bath stuff and massage oils for after. Knowing how tired Bells usually felt lately, she would no doubt be asleep after the bath, but I didn't mind that.

At 6pm I drove to the diner to pick Bells up, leaving the lasagne to finish cooking. After pulling up in the car park I jogged inside, finding her sat at her favourite table beneath the wolf painting. She looked tired already as I had predicted, but was laughing happily at something Jackie had said, one hand rubbing her bump absent mindedly. When she looked up and saw me walk through the door, her face lit up with her usual smile and I grinned back at her.

"Hey honey, you ready to go?" I asked as I approached her, leaning across the booth to kiss her softly.

"Sure, sure." She responded, automatically holding her hands out for me to pull her up from the seat which made me smile. It had become habit for us now, it felt like such a long time since Bells could get up by herself. Once she was on her feet she made her way slowly into the kitchen to say goodbye to Kim, then hugged Jackie and Emily as we made our way to the door.

"How you feeling today?" I asked her as I held the door open for her.

"Okay, a bit tired but not too bad." She responded, spotting the Rabbit and heading towards it.

"Have you had a good day with the girls?" I asked her as we reached the car, and I helped her into the passenger seat.

"Yeah it's been fun, Jackie's dad bought her this joke book so she's been reading them out all day." She told me with a smile. "There was a good one about wolves."

"Go on." I said, having made my way round the car and got into the driver seat. I put the car into reverse and pulled out of the car park, and Bella started giggling. "It's that funny?" I asked her, raising my eyebrows. She nodded her head and continued to giggle, not able to compose herself until we were pulling up on the drive at home. Finally, she turned to face me and let me in on the hysterical joke.

"What do you call a lost wolf?" she asked, still trying hard not to laugh.

"No idea." I replied, looking at her intently to wait for the answer.

"A…" she began to laugh again, finally stammering, "A where-wolf!" as soon as the words were out of her mouth, she was once again consumed by hysterical giggles. I looked at her blankly for a second, expecting more.

"Is that it?" I asked, shaking my head in disbelief.

"What do you mean is that it? It's hilarious! A where-wolf!" she said again, looking at me like I should be laughing too.

"I think this pregnancy is messing with your head." I chuckled, getting out of the car to help her out. She was still laughing all the way up the drive and up the porch steps, only stopping when she entered the house and sniffed the air.

"What's that?" she asked me, looking around suspiciously.

"What's what?" I responded, trying to look innocent.

"That smell, it smells like… lasagne!"

"Oh yeah, that's our dinner. It should be ready in a few minutes actually; I better go set the table." I walked away to the kitchen and had set the table by the time she caught up with me. She stood in the doorway, watching me as I turned to the oven and retrieved my creation. I'm not embarrassed to say that I was extremely proud of myself.

"You made that?" she asked me, eyebrows raising as she examined the lasagne.

"Yep."

"How?"

"I've been learning." I responded, dishing the food out onto two plates and setting them down on the table. I pulled one of the chairs out and looked up at Bella, motioning for her to take a seat. She did, but still watched me suspiciously as I walked to the other side of the table and sat opposite her.

"Happy anniversary, Mrs Black." I said with a huge smile on my face.

"Happy anniversary, Jake." She replied, seizing her fork and taking a bite of the lasagne. "Wow, this is great!"

"Of course it is, I made it!" I said, shaking my head in mock disbelief.

"Well you can cook more often then." She said with a smirk, finishing her plateful off much quicker than she usually would have done.

"I hope you're still hungry, because I made dessert too!" I told her, taking the apple pie I had made earlier from the fridge and showing her.

"Mmmm apples!" she muttered, smiling at me. "I've been wanting something with apple in it all day, but we don't do anything like that at the diner. I'm going to have to put it on the menu."

We ate the pie, which tasted great even if I did say so myself. The murmurs of approval from Bells seemed to agree with me. When the last crumb was gone from Bella's plate, I stood up.

"Time for the surprise." I told her, holding my hand out to help her from the table. She quickly responded and let me pull her up, fixing me once again with a curious stare as we made our way out of the kitchen. "You need to close your eyes." I told her when I had carried her to the top of the stairs, and she obeyed after staring at me defiantly for a few seconds.

I then led her to what was going to be our baby's nursery, turning every few seconds to ensure her eyes were still closed. Once I had situated her in the middle of the room and turned on the light, I let go of her and stood back to observe her reaction.

"OK, you can open your eyes now."

She did, and gasped when she realised what I had done. The room, which had been bare until a few hours ago, was now fully furnished with a handmade crib, changing table, rocking chair, and even a little wardrobe which now housed the clothes that had already been bought for the baby.

"Jake!" she gasped, opening up the wardrobe to take a look inside.

"All handmade by Paul." I told her, as she ran her hand over the edge of the crib. "I left the walls bare for now, I figured we could see to that once the baby is here and we know whether to paint them pink or blue."

She glanced at me briefly, but surprised me by continuing to walk slowly around the room instead of correcting me. She was still adamant that the baby would be a boy, so I had expected her to tell me I should've just painted the room blue. I watched her with a huge smile on my face as she took in every detail of the furniture, mouth still open in shock. I had to hand it to Paul; he had done a great job on everything. She noticed the detail to the headboard, and bent forward for a closer look.

"Billy did the carvings, he thought it would be fitting to put wolves on there." I told her as she examined the scene, which closely resembled the mural in the diner. "The empty space is for the baby's name."

"Wow, I didn't realise your dad was so talented!" she said, turning to face me with a huge grin on her face that matched mine. "I'm impressed."

"Good." I replied. "Take a seat in the chair, and I'll go get your second surprise." I turned and left the room, running quickly through the house and returning when I had retrieved the box I needed. When I walked back into the room and handed her the box, she gave me a reproving look.

"I thought we weren't buying each other gifts?" she said, looking between me and the box.

"I didn't buy it." She looked at me disbelievingly. "Just open it, then I can explain!" I laughed, gesturing to the box. She did as I said, and when she had seen the contents of the box she looked up to me again with another huge grin.

"Jake! Did Billy make this too?"

"No, I made this one." I told her, kneeling before her so we were nearer the same height. I pulled the bracelet from the box, and she held out her wrist for me to fasten it there. "The bracelet belonged to my mum, but I carved the wolf charm myself." When I had fastened the tiny catch, I gestured to the other wolf charm that was still in the box. "That one is for the baby, so you can have something the same." I left out the part about me having already bought a tiny silver bracelet; Bella might have been adamant we were having a boy but I still had a strong feeling that the baby would be a girl.

Her eyes filled with tears as she placed the box down and leaned forwards, wrapping her arms around my neck and kissing me. "I love you so much Jacob Black, I don't know what I ever did to deserve you."

"You must have been a really great person in a past life." I laughed, and she hit the back of my head with a snort. We held onto each for quite a long time, before I remembered the final surprise of the night. "Bath time." I told her, standing once again and reaching out to help her up from the rocking chair.

"Bath time?" she asked, and I nodded.

"Yeah, I thought you deserved to relax tonight so you're having a bath then I'm going to give you a massage." I led her across to the bathroom, and she was impressed again when she saw the candle-filled room and the array of bubble baths that I poured into the water. After her bath I took her into the bedroom, where I had already set up for the massage. I laid her down on the bed and filled my hands with the oil Emily had brought, and started with her feet. I was pretty sure that it wouldn't take long for Bells to fall asleep, and I thought that she had until she spoke up suddenly.

"Jake, can we…" she began, before blushing and closing her mouth, avoiding my gaze.

"Can we what?" I asked, rubbing the oil into her left calf.

"You know…" she began, and as I watched the uncomfortable look on her face I knew what she was getting at.

"Bells honey you know I'd love to but-"

"But what?" she asked, her voice suddenly going up an octave. "We haven't done it for _ages._"

"I know, and we will, but not till after the baby's born." I told her, concentrating my gaze on what I was doing but still feeling her eyes burning into the top of my head.

"Don't you find me attractive anymore?" she asked me, her voice turning quiet and hurt. When I looked up this time, she was staring at her stomach.

"Of course I do honey."

"Then why don't you want to make love to me anymore?"

"I just-" I began, not knowing how to phrase what I was thinking. "I don't want to y'know… hurt the baby." I told her quietly, feeling uncomfortable.

"You won't."

"Look honey, normally I would do anything for you. _Anything. _But I won't budge on this. What's the point in risking it? She will be here any day now, and then we can think about having sex again. Okay?"

She didn't respond for a minute, but when she did she made me smile again and instantly relieved the tension that had developed between us.

"_He _will be here any day now. Little Charlie William Black."


	32. Chapter 32

**CHAPTER THIRTY TWO**

**BELLA POV**

I was now two days away from my due date, and I was completely fed up. I was huge, I was exhausted, and my back was aching so much that I was almost constantly sitting down. Not to mention how humiliating it was that I couldn't actually stand up on my own; whichever one of the boys was nearest when I needed the toilet had to practically drag me onto my feet because my belly was too swollen for me to heave myself up.

Emily wasn't doing much better; her due date had been and gone and she was even more irritable than me. Pregnant Emily was definitely not someone to mess with. Coincidentally, I noticed that Sam was spending more and more time patrolling these days, and I had a sneaking suspicion it was so that he could get a bit of peace and quiet away from his imprint.

"Just get out already!" Emily shouted at her stomach for what must have been the twentieth time in the last hour. We had both been dropped off at the diner to spend some time with the girls while Sam and Jake went out for a run. Jake never wanted to leave my side lately so he hadn't spent much time in wolf form, but I had practically forced him out of the diner door so he could have some guy time. The way he worried about me was really cute, but it was nice to spend time with the girls and chat about normal girl things. The only problem was that Emily was beginning to get aon everyone's nerves, so the Jackie and Kim had been trying to research ways to induce labour. Jackie had pulled an article out of a magazine she had found about things that can help bring on labour, which suggested eating spicy food. We had both therefore been stuffing our faces with chillies for the better part of an hour, while the girls looked after the customers. Up to now, it hadn't worked.

"There is something else that can help," Jackie told us, and we both looked to her eagerly. "Sex." She finished, as if this was the simplest remedy in the world.

I laughed and Emily sighed in exasperation. "Do you really think I can persuade Sam to do that right now? He can barely stand being in the same room as me at the moment, I bite his head off for the tiniest thing!"

"Yeah," I agreed, knowing how sexually frustrated I was at the moment. "Jacob thinks he would hurt the baby, so that's a no go."

Jackie sighed sympathetically. "The only other thing the article mentioned was exercise, but since the pair of you can barely even move right now…"

"If it will get this baby out of me, I will give it my best shot." Emily said, sounding determined. "Help me up."

Kim and Jackie both struggled to pull Emily to her feet, but once she was standing she began to slowly pace back and forth across the diner.

"I guess I'll give it a go too." I told the girls, wincing at the thought of how much I would ache later as I was pulled up to my feet.

We had been pacing the diner together for about five minutes when the bell sounded above the door, and in walked Paul.

"What are you two doing walking about?" he asked as he pulled me into a greeting hug, sounding concerned. "You know we're under strict orders to make sure you don't strain yourselves."

"I want it out!" Emily suddenly shrieked, making Paul jump back in shock.

"We're trying to bring on labour." I explained in a calmer voice, and he nodded in understanding.

"Just be careful and let me know if you get too tired or anything. I'll be over there getting some lunch."

He sat at a booth and ordered some food from Kim, while the pair of us continued our persistent pacing. I noticed that he never took his eyes away from us, even while he was eating. He knew how clumsy I was, and how dangerous it would be for me to fall over when I was this pregnant. I was just debating whether to give up and join him on the comfy seats, when Emily let out a shout behind me.

"Yes! Finally!" she yelled as I turned round, finding her standing over a puddle of liquid with a huge grin on her face.

"Jesus Emily, I would have helped you to the toilet if you were that desperate!" Paul exclaimed, looking at her in disbelief.

"She hasn't peed herself!" I shouted at him, feeling panic wash over me; I suddenly didn't want to rush my labour anymore.

"Oh, shit!" Paul shouted too, realising what had happened. "What do we do?"

"You phase and tell Sam." She told him authoritatively. "You and you," she said, pointing to Kim and Jackie, "Take me to Paul's truck so he can drive me to the hospital."

Paul shot out of the door without further instruction and the girls instantly began to help Emily towards the door.

"I'm coming with you!" I shouted, trying to waddle as fast as I could behind them. How could she be so calm? I was struggling to keep myself under control, and it was Emily who should have been freaking out. Suddenly, I felt warm liquid rush down my legs and I froze in panic. Looking down in disbelief I saw that my sweatpants were soaked.

"Yeah, you're definitely coming with me!" Emily laughed, shaking her head as the three girls turned to face me. "Looks like the exercise worked."

"Oh my God!" Kim yelled at the same time Jackie shouted, "You have got to be kidding!"

"What's wrong?" Paul asked; I hadn't even noticed him return.

"It's Bella, she's blown too!" Jackie told him as we all stood there staring at each other.

I couldn't even attempt to move another step; the panic had now completely set in. Before I could even say anything I was in Paul's arms, being carefully carried out to the truck. Once he had gently set me down in the cab he disappeared for a minute, and I heard a howl in the distance. By the time he got back to the truck Emily and the girls had caught up, so he lifted her in next to me before sprinting round to the driver's side.

None of us said a word during the drive to the hospital; Paul was too nervous, Emily was too in pain and I was torn between the fear of what was about to happen, and fear over the speed at which Paul was driving. We were at the hospital impossibly quickly, and the panic flushed out of me instantly when I saw Jacob waiting for me with a wheelchair.

**JACOB POV**

Sam and I had been out running for just over an hour, and I was missing Bella and our unborn baby like mad. I wanted to spend every second watching over them and protecting them, but I didn't want to overwhelm Bells. I knew she needed a bit of space to spend time with her friends, so I had left her at the diner with the other imprints for a while.

I was so proud of how well she was coping; I knew it couldn't be easy for her to be carrying our child and I could tell she was fed up of not being able to do much on her own. She had been a little irritable at times over the last couple of weeks, but that was nothing compared to what I had seen of Emily in Sam's head.

_I love her to bits, but she's been driving me insane man. _He thought, showing me the way she had shouted at him this morning because he had been brushing his teeth too loudly. _I'm sure she wasn't this bad with Sammy. Hasn't Bella been crazy at all?_

_Honestly, no. _I told him, showing him a few of my own memories of pregnant Bella. _I can tell she's fed up, but she hides it really well. She snaps at me sometimes, but I can handle that. _I thought about how happy I would be when I got to hold our son or daughter for the first time.

_Yeah dude, it's all completely worth it when you get to finally meet your child. _He let me see some of his memories of the day Sammy was born, and I smiled at the pure love and adoration Sam felt when he looked at his son.

_I can't wait._

_Won't be long now, they both look ready to pop. When's Bella due again?_

I was about to answer when I felt someone phase, and a stream of panicked thoughts hit me.

_Paul? _Sam asked as we tried to make sense of his internal rambling.

_You need to get to hospital Sam, I'm just about to drive Emily there. _He told him, showing us what had just happened at the diner.

_Okay, we're not far from there so I'll be waiting at the entrance. Hurry up, but be careful._

With that, Sam began to sprint off in the direction of the hospital and Paul phased out. I ran after Sam, knowing that Bella would no doubt be coming with Emily for moral support. Less than a minute later Paul phased in again, even more panicked than before.

_What happened? _Sam prompted him, thinking something else had happened with Emily. Paul said nothing, but allowed his mind to repeat to us what he had seen. As soon as I saw Bella standing there, her sweatpants wet and panic taking over her face, I let out a howl and pressed myself harder to catch up to Sam. Bella was about to have our baby! Paul phased back again, and before I knew it Sam and I were waiting impatiently outside the hospital, each armed with a wheelchair to take our imprints in to the maternity ward. It would probably look a little weird if we both burst into the hospital with the girls in our arms like we wanted to.

Twenty hours later I was still sitting in a chair beside Bella's hospital bed, holding her hand and rubbing her back soothingly. Every time she had a contraction she winced in pain and gripped my hand tightly, but she was taking it a lot better than Emily was in the next room.

"I-fucking-hate you-Sam Uley!" I heard her scream through the wall, and exchanged a smirk with Bella. She had been shouting at him on and off since we got here, and I was starting to feel bad for him.

"So you don't hate me yet, honey?" I asked, leaning forward to kiss her forehead.

"I'll never hate you Jake." She replied with a sweet smile.

The shouting next door became more frequent and intense, and I gathered Emily was close to giving birth. Screams and obscenities drifted through the wall, so loud that even Bella could hear every word. Sure enough, about twenty minutes later Sam came into the room with a huge grin on his face.

"A girl," he announced proudly. "Lily Anne Uley, 7lb 4oz, completely healthy."

"That's great Sam." I told him, standing to shake his hand.

"How're you doing, Bella?" he asked, cautiously approaching the bed.

"It's okay Sam, she won't bite." I laughed, knowing that he expected Bella to be as vocal as Emily had been.

"I'm fine." She smiled in a typical Bella response. "Just tired."

"Well it shouldn't be long now, Mrs Black." The nurse announced as she entered the room. "You're 9cm dilated, almost there."

"I best get back to Em and Lily. Good luck guys." Sam told us, patting me on the back as he left the room.

An hour later it was my turn to run next door to announce our new arrival, almost bursting with pride.

"Sarah Renee Black, 9lb 7oz." I told Sam and Emily, before quickly looking at their sleeping daughter. "She's beautiful, good thing she looks like you!" I told Emily, earning an elbow to the ribs from Sam.

"I hope little Sarah looks like Bella then!" he said playfully, and I beamed even though he was insulting me.

"Of course she does. She has Bella's nose and her chocolate eyes, with dark brown hair and my lips and skin tone." I smiled, thinking about how beautiful and perfect my baby girl was.

Emily smiled too. "She'll be a boy magnet on the res."

I frowned at that thought; it hadn't occurred to me yet that boys would find her exotic looks very attractive when she was old enough.

"You don't have to worry about that for another 15 years or so." Emily laughed, easily guessing what had been going through my head.

"Yeah well… I best be getting back to my girls." I smiled to myself; I liked the sound of that.

"Make sure you go tell Paul, he's been climbing the walls in that waiting room." Sam told me as I turned to leave.

Sure enough, Paul was pacing the small room, looking almost as nervous as I had felt less than an hour before.

"You can relax Paul, Bells and Sarah are doing fine."

"A baby girl?" he grinned, pulling me into an unexpected hug. "Rach will be happy. Can I see them?"

"Sure. Bella's pretty tired, but I know she'll be happy to see you."

That night when everyone had been to see our new arrival, and Quil had been slapped by Bella several times for constantly calling Sarah 'the pup', Bells had finally given into the exhaustion of the day's events. While she slept soundly beside me, I sat in the chair with Sarah lying on my chest while I studied every inch of her perfect features.

"Daddy's little princess." I whispered, kissing her soft hair gently. I had never been happier than I was in that moment, with my beautiful wife and our beautiful little girl.


	33. Chapter 33

_**Sorry for the long absence, but I'm back! I promise not to make you wait so long for the next update! Anyway here's the next chapter, hope you enjoy. Also thank you for all the reviews, they are much appreciated :)**_

**CHAPTER THIRTY THREE**

**Bella POV**

Sarah was now almost two months old, and she was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Everyone said she looked like me, but I could see a lot of Jake in her; from her tanned skin to the way her smile could already light up the whole room.

It was also my 24th birthday, and I was glad to find that Jake hadn't done anything over the top for me. Just spending time with my husband and our gorgeous daughter was good enough for me, plus with the lack of sleep we had both become accustomed to I wasn't really up to doing anything special. Jake told me that we were going to Charlie's house for a meal, so I quickly dressed myself before dressing Sarah in one of the pretty little dresses Rachel and Paul had bought for her.

"I just need to take care of some pack business with Sam first so I'm going to drop you at the diner for a bit, is that alright?" he asked me as he clipped Sarah into her car seat.

"Yeah that'd be good actually; I've not been there for a few days so I should check the girls are running it properly." I joked. Since the births of the girls, Kim and Jackie had taken charge of the diner so that Emily and I could spend time with our daughters, and I was very grateful.

We pulled up in the car park and Jake insisted on carrying Sarah inside, so the two of us walked into the diner together. Instead of being greeted by Jackie and Kim as I expected, I got a shock when the door opened and revealed many familiar faces.

"Surprise!" everyone shouted, and I realised that the whole pack was waiting for us, as well as Charlie, Billy and Sue. I quickly took in everyone's smiling faces, before turning to glare at a very sheepish looking Jake.

"A meal at Charlie's?" I laughed, and he visibly relaxed when he realised I was happy with the surprise. "Thanks Jake, this is great." I told him, reaching up to kiss him.

"Don't thank me, it was just my idea. The girls set everything up." He said as some of the gang approached us.

"I helped too!" Quil insisted, kissing me swiftly on the head before making a beeline for Sarah, his new favourite play-thing. "Hello pup, how are you?" he asked sweetly, reaching out to take her from Jake.

"She has a name, Quil!" I told him for what must have been the thousandth time since Sarah was born, but he completely ignored me as he began to carry her around the room to greet everyone else.

"It's useless even trying, shortie." Paul laughed as he pushed to the front of the group and pulled me into a hug. "It's stuck now, you'll never get him to use her real name. Happy birthday by the way!"

"Thanks," I replied with a smile, wanting to feel annoyed about my daughter's nickname but I knew Paul was right; I should accept defeat as the name had definitely stuck.

"Hey Bella!" Seth grinned down at me as he took his turn to give me a hug. "Leah's not here yet; she's on her way back from Seattle but she should be here later."

The rest of the gang greeted me in turn, before Emily announced that the food was ready and the boys all made their way to the kitchen, leaving us girls to chat.

"So what's new?" I asked the others as we gathered around one of the tables. "I feel like we haven't spoken about anything other than babies for ages." Emily and I had our 'play dates' with our girls and Sammy, and Rachel regularly came to visit with Paul, but I had barely seen the others as they had been so busy with the diner.

"Well business here has been great." Kim told me with a grin, but I cut her off.

"I know the diner will be fine with you in charge, haven't you got anything interesting to tell me?" I asked, glancing round the group. Most of the girls seemed to be searching for some sort of gossip for me, but Rachel looked sheepish. "What, Rach?" I asked, raising my eyebrows. "I know you have something so c'mon, spill it!"

"Well…" she looked uncomfortable for a second as she glanced over her shoulder to where the boys were piling their plates with food. Seeming satisfied, she turned back to face me. "Paul and I... kind of have an announcement to make."

I was about to push her for more information, but I noticed Paul's head emerge from the group of boys and look straight at us.

"Don't you dare say anything without me!" he shouted across the room in what I expect was supposed to be a menacing tone, but the love and happiness easily held over the threat in his words. I watched intently as Rachel turned to look at him, and I could instantly place the look of utter adoration on his face.

"You're pregnant!" I whispered to Rachel, but I continued to look at Paul as I spoke. She didn't make any attempt to answer my assumption, but the wink Paul aimed at me was more than enough of a confirmation. "Congratulations!" I laughed, pulling her into a hug before running across the room to Paul and doing the same. "So I'm going to be an auntie?"

"Yep, aunt shortie." He replied cheekily, and I couldn't help but return his goofy grin.

"That's great Paul, you'll be a great dad." I told him with a smile, but he didn't look completely convinced.

"Hope so." He replied, just as the guys began to tackle him to the ground as a way of congratulating him. Quil handed Sarah over to me before joining in the fun, and I made my way back to the girls who were all shaking their heads in mock disapproval.

"Will they ever grow up?" Rachel muttered, but failed to keep the smile from her face.

"What fun would it be if they did?" Kim laughed, pointing to Sarah as I sat down and placed her on my knee. "Even the pup finds them funny."

The girls all quickly looked to me, awaiting the outburst that usually followed any mention of my daughter's unwanted nickname.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to bite your head off." I laughed, stroking Sarah's soft hair. "I give up. You can call her 'the pup' for now; she can tell you all off herself when she's old enough."

After all the food had been demolished and the whole gang had settled down, Charlie unexpectedly rose from his seat and cleared his throat. My dad was definitely a man of few words, so I was very surprised that he had chosen to make a speech in front of the whole pack.

"Bells I know it's your birthday, but I've got a little announcement of my own to make." He paused for a moment to allow me to say something, but I was too bewildered to respond. What could Charlie need to announce to the whole pack? "I figured now would be a good time to say it while you're all here… well I was hoping Leah would be here by now…"

"Spit it out, Chief!" Paul shouted good naturedly, making dad chuckle.

"Okay, okay… last night I asked Sue to be my wife, and she agreed."

I vaguely noticed the room erupting into cheers of congratulations, but I was too shocked to focus on anything. Of course I knew that Charlie and Sue had been getting closer recently, but I definitely hadn't predicted this. Instantly my mind wandered to all the problems this could cause; would he be introduced to the secrets of the tribe?

I glanced at Charlie for a moment, and the look on his face dispelled all of my worries in an instant. He looked happier than I had ever seen him, and the look of pure love that passed between him and Sue was obvious to us all. I pulled myself together quickly and headed towards them, pulling first Charlie and then Sue into a hug.

"Congratulations, dad!" I told him with a grin.

"Thanks, kiddo. You sure you're okay with this?"

"Of course I am, whatever makes you happy makes me happy." He gave me a relieved smile, pulling Sue closer to him.

"I was thinking that Sue should move in with me." He said, still looking a little apprehensive of my reaction.

"That's great! That house needs a woman's touch, you've been alone too long old man."

"That I have." He agreed, leaning to place a sweet kiss on Sue's cheek. "You boys up for a bit of heavy lifting?" he asked the guys, who had gathered round to offer their words of support.

"Sure thing Chief Swan," Sam answered before turning to Sue. "Just let us know when you're ready to go."

* * *

><p>After an eventful evening full of exciting announcements, Jake and I made our excuses and left the party to put Sarah to bed. The night's events seemed to have tired her out, as she was asleep before we even laid her in her crib.<p>

"She's so beautiful." I whispered as Jake and I stared down at our sleeping baby.

"Just like her mom." He added, wrapping his arm around me tightly. "So how do you feel about Charlie and Sue?"

"Good. I mean, I kind of panicked a little at first but they look really happy."

"Yeah they do, Seth's commented a few times about how happy his mom is."

"But… what about the tribe? Will Charlie be told everything?"

"I don't know honey. I mean if it was down to me then I'd tell him everything. But the elders will probably have to meet and discuss it, and with him not even living on the res…" he trailed off, offering me an apologetic smile.

"Yeah, I guess. I just hoped that we could finally be honest with him."

"I know, Bells." He pulled me into a bear hug, instantly cheering me up.

"I had a really great time tonight." I mumbled into his chest, trying to lighten the mood between us.

"Good. I was worried that you would find it too much…"

"No, it was great." I reassured him. "You know I love spending time with the pack."

Just then the phone began to ring downstairs, interrupting our conversation. Jake ran down to answer it, while I began to get undressed. Seconds later he rushed back into the room, still holding the phone in his hand. I had only managed to remove my shirt.

"What is it?" I asked quickly, assessing his expression and feeling my heart begin to pound.

"You know what we were just talking about? Well you don't need to worry about it anymore." He answered cryptically.

"What do you mean?"

"That was Sue. Apparently Leah finally turned up at your party, and she didn't exactly take the news of the engagement as well as everyone else. She phased on the spot when they told her."

I gazed at him for a moment, slowly taking in his words. "So… Charlie knows?"

"Yeah Bells. He knows everything."


	34. Chapter 34

**CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR**

**Bella POV**

It was Sarah's 2nd birthday and the whole pack was gathered at the diner for Sarah and Lily's joint party. It was fair to say I was an emotional wreck; thanks in part to my crazy hormones, but mainly because my baby girl was growing up _far _too quickly for my liking. I didn't want to ruin the day for everyone so I was concentrating on throwing the best party possible, which mainly involved me spending all day in the kitchen to try and take my mind off things.

"Bells, will you _please _give it a rest now? There's plenty of food out there already." Jake said as he came into the kitchen, letting out an exasperated sigh as he watched me take the fifth batch of chocolate chip cookies out of the oven.

"I'm fine Jake, stop fussing!" I told him for what felt like the millionth time, as I waddled over to the fridge to gather more ingredients for batch number six. As I reached for the door Jake blocked my way, and I knew he would be looking at me with that same concerned, loving expression so I avoided his gaze. Gently he placed his little finger under my chin, tilting my head back until my eyes met his.

"I know what you're trying to do honey, but you need to stop. I can see you're already exhausted: you'll end up running yourself into the ground!"

"I'm fine, Jake!"

"You're six months pregnant, Bella! With two babies! Now do as your wonderful husband says and go sit with my pregnant sister, put your feet up for a bit. You never know, she might cheer you up."

I snorted at that: Rachel had been notoriously miserable during her first pregnancy with Ephraim, and although she was only three months along with her second pregnancy, she was definitely already in the same frame of mind.

"Sure." I laughed sarcastically, reaching once more for the fridge door only for Jake to grab my suspended hand, holding it to his lips while he kissed my knuckles tenderly.

"Please, Bells. For me." He said softly, giving me his best puppy dog eyes that I knew I would never be able to refuse. Releasing a breath in annoyed defeat, I nodded slightly and set off for the main room where the party was in full swing. "_Phew_. I thought I was going to have to get Paul in here to guilt trip you for a moment there." Jake chuckled behind me, making me roll my eyes even though he couldn't see. The boys certainly knew how to get their own way, but my mood lifted instantly when I saw my gorgeous little girl running clumsily toward us.

"Momma! Dadda!" she yelled, squealing with joy as Jake stooped to pick her up, swinging her in the air before holding her out to me.

"Give Momma a kiss, honey." He told her in that special, soothing voice he reserved just for his girls. "Momma's a little sad today."

"Momma sad?" she repeated quietly, tilting her beautiful head slightly and studying my face with her big chocolate eyes.

"Not anymore, honey." I reassured her with a smile, and her face split into what I call her 'Jacob smile'. She gave me a quick sloppy kiss before I set her down, watching her soft brown curls bounce as she toddled over to where Lily and the other kids were playing.

"Do I smell fresh cookies?" Embry asked with a grin as he approached, holding his baby son Justin.

"Sure, sure. Help yourself." I laughed, watching him and Quil race to the kitchen.

Glancing around the room I saw that Jake had sat himself down at a table with Charlie, Rachel and Paul, so I headed over to join them. I took a seat beside Charlie, just in time to hear the end of a story Paul was telling about how Quil had chased a deer all the way to the Canadian border while patrolling. Luckily for us Charlie had taken the news about the wolves much better than I could ever have imagined, and had settled into life with the pack easily with Sue as his new wife. Leah had eventually come around to the idea of her mum remarrying after her little outburst; even agreeing to be a bridesmaid at their wedding along with me and Sarah, and the two of them were now happily living in Charlie's home in Forks. We had tried to get them to move onto the res, but Charlie wasn't ready to retire as Forks' Chief of Police yet.

"So are we taking bets on the sex of the twins?" Charlie asked, wrapping an arm around my shoulder.

"All bets are off this time, Charlie." Jake answered with a smile. "Twin girls run in the family: there's been a pair in every generation of the Blacks for hundreds of years."

"I'd still take the bet, Dad. They're going to be boys." I stated confidently.

"Bells, according to you Sarah was going to be a boy. There's no record at all of male twins in our family, Dad thinks it's because of the Alpha gene. Twin boys would make it too difficult to decide which should be Chief of the tribe."

"There's a first time for everything." I replied with a smile, rubbing my hand on my already huge bump. Jake shook his head, but didn't say anything else. Billy's idea about the Alpha gene and twin boys did make sense to me, but my gut feeling still disagreed with him.

"I think we're having another boy." Paul announced, kissing Rachel's hair.

"So do I." she agreed with a rare smile. Although she was being pretty quiet, she was clearly in a much better mood than usual.

The rest of the afternoon flew by and I busied myself with tidying up, much to Jake's annoyance. Emily insisted on helping me, so once the place was spotless we sat together and watched our children play. Sarah and Lily were playing nicely with their new toys, but for the boys it was a different story. Sammy and Josh were fighting over a toy car quite aggressively, while little Ephraim sat and watched, avoiding the flailing arms and legs.

"Typical boys, just like their dads." Emily laughed as she made a move to put an end to the argument, but Sam and Jared beat her to it. We both watched in amusement as the dads split apart their sons, attempting to teach them to share instead of fighting over their toys. In the end they both gave up, choosing to distract the boys with cookies instead.

"Definitely like their dads." I laughed as we watched them devour several cookies, looking just like the older males of the pack.

* * *

><p>What felt to me like a short time later I found myself being shaken awake, and opened my eyes to find Jake and Sarah looking down at me.<p>

"Sorry, I must have fallen asleep." I muttered, sitting up and stretching my stiff limbs as I realised it had gone dark outside.

"I told you that you were exhausted, honey. Come on, we're going home for a good night's sleep. Sarah's promised to sleep till at least 6am like a good girl, haven't you honey?"

"Yes." She answered, her expression completely serious as she stared down at me.

"OK." I smiled, pulling myself to my feet with a little help from my husband. "Let's go home."

I said my goodbyes to everyone while Jake packed the truck with all of Sarah's presents, before driving the three of us back to the house. I couldn't wait to get into bed, but Jake and I put Sarah to bed together first as we always did.

"Good night honey, we love you." We both told her after tucking her into bed and turning on her wolf shaped nightlight. She responded with a yawn, falling to sleep almost instantly as we both kissed her and left the room.

Once in our bed, Jake wrapped me in his arms and kissed me softly. The way he looked at me hadn't changed at all in the last two years: I was still the centre of his universe as he was mine.

"I love you, Bells." He told me, before moving his head down to my stomach. "Love you too, girls."

"Boys." I quietly corrected, before drifting off to sleep in the arms of my perfect husband.


	35. Chapter 35

**All characters belong to Stephenie Meyer**

**CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE**

**Jake POV**

The due date for the twins was now less than a month away, and Bella was driving me mad with her stubbornness. Her bump was much bigger than last time, yet she still insisted on going to work. Not only that, but she made me go to work too so that I wouldn't be watching over her all day. My most powerful wolf instinct was to keep my mate and offspring safe, so I was finding it really hard to be away from my girls so much.

"For fuck's sake man, get yourself to the diner!" Embry suddenly shouted, pulling me abruptly from my thoughts of Bella. I quickly realised I had been persistently tapping a wrench on the hood of the car I was working on, which had clearly been irritating Embry.

"You sure?" I asked, although I was already halfway to the exit.

"It's not like you're getting any work done while you're moping, is it!" he called after me as I let the door swing shut behind me, breaking into a run to get to the truck quicker. Luckily for me Embry had been through the same thing when Kim was pregnant with Justin, so he understood my struggle.

I was so desperate to see Bella that I thought about phasing so that I could get to the diner quicker, but I was supposed to be trying to give up as there had been no vampire activity since the Cullens had left, and I wanted to age with Bella. Sam, Embry, Paul and Jared were doing the same thing, but we were all having a tough time trying to control our urges.

So after what felt like a lifetime I burst through the diner doors, hearing the familiar tinkling of the bell. Bella and Sarah were in their usual spot at the wolf table which made me smile, and they both looked up as I approached.

"Dadda!" Sarah squealed, standing on the seat and raising her arms for me to pick her up.

"Hey, princess." I replied, kissing her soft cheek before leaning over to kiss Bella. "I missed you both."

"Why aren't you at work?" Bells scolded, but I could tell by the smirk on her lips that she was happy to see me.

"Can't a man take his wife for a romantic stroll on the beach during his dinner break?" I asked as innocently as possible, although I knew it was only just after 10:30. Bella rolled her eyes, clearly knowing my true intentions, but held her hand out to me with a smile.

"OK, help me up."

"Can I come, daddy?" Sarah asked, tugging on my pants leg as I pulled Bella gently to her feet.

"Sure you can, princess." I replied, scooping her up with one arm while holding onto Bella with the other.

"Just heading out to the beach for a little while, Em!" she called out as we made our way to the door.

"OK sweetie, have a good time!"

Once we were out on the beach Bells became visibly happier, and I was glad to see her smiling as we strolled along the shore watching Sarah collected pebbles.

"So, you ready for our two new arrivals?" she asked me, biting her lip in a way that told me she was nervous.

"I honestly can't wait, honey." I answered with a grin. "What are you thinking?"

She paused for a moment in thought before replying. "It's going to be hard, looking after three kids. But I'm excited."

"Well if these babies are anything like Sarah, it will be a piece of cake."

"Yeah, Sarah's an angel." She agreed, looking a little more confident.

"Momma, I want to show auntie Em my rock!" Sarah suddenly yelled, running towards us with her hand outstretched, showing us a perfectly round blue pebble.

"OK honey, we'll head back now. I bet daddy's hungry too." She added, looking up at me with a raised eyebrow and an amused expression.

"You know me so well." I grinned, kissing her before picking Sarah up. "Are you looking forward to meeting your little sisters?" I asked her as we made our way back along the beach.

"My brothers, daddy." She replied, taking me by surprise. I raised my eyebrows at Bells, but she shook her head.

"I haven't said anything, but she's convinced they're boys."

"Like mother, like daughter." I chuckled, but didn't say anything more. There wasn't a shred of doubt in my mind, but it was no use arguing with stubborn pregnant Bells.

We walked in a happy silence for a few minutes, until Bella stopped suddenly and clutched her stomach.

"Bells?" I asked, but I knew instantly what was wrong when I saw the wet patch forming on her sweatpants, just like I had seen a little over two years before in Paul's memory. She looked at me with sheer panic in her eyes, and I knew that I needed to take control quickly before she started to freak out. Luckily we weren't far from the diner. Setting Sarah down on her feet, I knelt in the sand and brought my face level with hers.

"Sarah, I need you to be a big girl now for mommy and daddy, OK?" She nodded in reply, looking scared. "There's nothing to be scared of," I reassured her, "but I need to carry mommy back to auntie Em. So I need you to walk next to daddy. Can you do that?" she nodded again, looking slightly more confident. "Good girl." I told her, kissing the top of her head before scooping Bella up in my arms. "Hold onto my pants… that's it, good girl."

With that we set off once more in the direction of the diner, much more slowly than I would have liked. Bells looked terrified but stayed positive for Sarah's sake, praising her for being such a good girl as we walked awkwardly across the sand. Finally after what felt like an eternity we made it to the car park, and Emily came rushing out of the diner as she saw us through the window.

"What happened?" she asked with a concerned look as her eyes travelled from Bella in my arms, to Sarah still clutching at my leg.

"Waters broke." I responded quickly. "Can you watch Sarah?"

"Of course."

"Sarah, mommy and daddy need to go to the hospital now, so can you do us a really big favour and be a good girl for auntie Em?" she hesitated, so Emily stepped forward to pick her up.

"You're always a good girl, aren't you sweetie? Let's go find Lily." She said, turning and heading back to the diner. "I'll let everyone know." She told me over her shoulder, and I nodded before quickly heading for the truck. "Good luck!" she called after us.

* * *

><p>Hours later I was forced to admit how wrong I had been as I made my way into the crowded waiting room to announce our new arrivals.<p>

"A first has happened for the Black family. I would like to welcome my sons, Charles and William, into the world." A group of shocked but happy faces filled the room: we had all prepared ourselves for the arrival of two girls. Although I had expected to have two new daughters, I was overjoyed at the thought of now having two sons.

"That's great man, but what will it mean for the tribe? Will the eldest just automatically become Chief?" Jared asked the question I knew would become the most important debate for the tribal elders.

"Honestly, I have no idea. But I think we can sort that out when my sons are older. _Much _older."

"So can we go check out the mini Alphas?" Quil asked, making everyone laugh.

"Sure, sure. Just be quick about it; Bells is exhausted but you know what she's like, she'll never tell anyone to leave so she can get some sleep."

"Two at a time please!" The nurse shouted as the whole pack pushed past me to get to the babies, but gave up when she realised no one was listening. I chuckled to myself as I followed them all into Bella's room, sitting down on the bed beside her while the guys shoved each other to try and get a better look at my sleeping sons.

Once the pack had cleared out, the grandparents came to see us with a very excited Sarah.

"Momma! Dadda!" she cried, wrestling her hand away from Charlie so that she could run towards us.

"Hey, honey! Come meet your new brothers!" I told her, scooping her up so that she could give Bells a kiss while Charlie and Billy inspected their new-born grandsons.

"They look just like you when you were born, son." Billy said, smiling up at me with tears in his eyes.

"Except the eyes," Charlie pointed out as Charles woke up, somehow alerting William to do so too. "They have Swan eyes."

"I want to see!" Sarah chirped up, wriggling in my arms in an attempt to get nearer. I stepped up to the babies, holding her up so that she could see them.

"This is Charles, and this is William. They are your new baby brothers, Sarah."

She stared at the boys for a moment while they stared back, before she turned to look at Bella.

"Can they play?" she asked sweetly, making the room erupt with laughter.

"Not yet honey, they're too small." She answered, making Sarah's excited grin drop. "But soon they will be big enough, then you'll be able to play all the time."

This appeared to satisfy her, as she quickly turned her attention back on the boys. Ten minutes later when I tried to move her she began to cry, so in the end I had to pull a chair up right beside the crib to allow her to keep watch over her little brothers.

As I studied my sons' identical faces for the hundredth time, a thought popped into my head that had never occurred to me before that moment. I stayed awake all night worrying about the fact that in years to come, my boys may be forced to watch over the whole tribe as leaders of the new pack; a role that I had never wanted to accept.


	36. Chapter 36

**_I'm back again! Sorry for making you wait so long... Enjoy :)_**

**CHAPTER THIRTY SIX**

**Bella POV**

"Mom!" Sarah's voice drifted in from the living room, where I had left the kids watching TV while I cooked dinner.

"What, honey?" I called back as I chopped up some carrots and threw them into the saucepan beside me.

"Tell Will to stop it!"

"Why, what's he doing?"

"Annoying me!"

"Will, stop annoying your sister."

"It wasn't me Mom, it was CJ!"

"CJ, stop annoying your sister!"

"It wasn't me Mom, it was-"

"_Both _of you, stop annoying your sister."

I paused for a second and listened, breathing a sigh of relief when I couldn't hear any further arguing. Sharing the house with my 8 year old daughter and my 5 year old twin sons wasn't exactly peaceful, so it was always a relief when arguments could be settled easily. As I checked on the lamb joint in the oven and gave the veg a quick stir however, the peace was disturbed once more.

"Mom!"

"What, honey?"

"Come look what CJ did!"

Rolling my eyes in exasperation, I set down the wooden spoon I had been wielding and walked out of the kitchen, hoping that nothing important had been broken. It turned out that nothing had been broken this time, but I wasn't prepared for the sight before me as I stepped into the room.

"Charlie Jacob Black! What on earth possessed you…" I trailed off shaking my head; a lot of what the twins did made no sense whatsoever to me. "Don't move Will, just stay right where you are."

The boys were both sat on the floor in front of the TV as they had been when I had left them minutes before, but now Will was covered from head to toe in blue paint. I had to hand it to CJ; he sure worked fast. As I walked over to them, making sure to take the paint from CJ before he caused any more damage, the front door opened and Jake came into the room. It only took him a few seconds to process the sight in front of him, before he chuckled and walked over to us.

"Hey, Bells." He said with a smile, leaning over to kiss me in greeting. "Been having fun, kids?" he asked with a laugh as he pulled Will up into the air, holding him at arm's length so as not to get any paint on himself.

"Yeah dad, CJ wanted to make me look like a smurf!" Will told him enthusiastically.

"I can see that, little man! How about we go make you look like Will Black again in time for dinner?"

"Sure, sure." Will responded, and Jake rolled his eyes at me before setting off in the direction of the bathroom. I looked down at CJ who was now standing right before me, giving me his best puppy dog eyes that made him look uncannily like Jacob.

"Am I in trouble, mommy?" he asked a little too innocently, making me laugh.

"No, honey. But next time you want to make your brother look like a smurf, maybe do it in the garden okay?"

"Okay." He agreed, returning to his seat in front of the TV.

"If I had done something like that, I would've been in loads of trouble!" Sarah whined at me as I made my way back to the kitchen.

"Yeah well I think you're old enough to know better, don't you?" I responded with a smirk, and she rolled her eyes at me before fixing them back on the TV screen. Although she was only 8, Sarah already had a major attitude and the rest of the pack regularly joked that she had hit puberty early.

Twenty minutes later we were all sat around the table for dinner, with Will now restored to his natural russet skin colour thanks to Jake and a bar of soap.

"How was work?" I asked as we dug into our meal, and he sighed.

"Fine." He finally answered, but I recognised the look he gave me.

"Jake?"

"It's nothing, Bells."

I gave him a look, and he sighed again before continuing.

"It's Quil, he's just kinda been on one recently."

"What about?" I asked, feeling a little worried. I hadn't seen much of Quil recently, which was strange as he usually made regular appearances at the diner for his usual order of pancakes.

"Claire."

"Is she okay?"

"She's fine. But… she's got a boyfriend."

"Well, she is 16 now. It is kind of normal behaviour."

"Yeah but you know what Quil's like. He doesn't think the kid's good enough for her. He told Claire what he thought about him, and now she won't speak to him."

I laughed; Quil was always unbearably over protective of his imprint.

"I don't think anyone will ever be good enough in Quil's eyes."

"Maybe not, but he kind of has a point with this kid. He's constantly in trouble with the tribal elders; dad says they caught him at the beach with a load of wolf liqueur the other day."

I raised my eyebrows at this; I knew for a fact that Jake and the boys had been doing exactly the same thing at that age. Jake understood my humorous expression and began to smirk too, placing a finger over his lips in warning. 'Not in front of the kids.' He mouthed to me, making me laugh.

"What's so funny?" Sarah asked; inquisitive as always as she looked from me to Jake, who was now also laughing.

"Nothing honey, we'll tell you when you're older." Jake laughed, rubbing her hair lovingly. "So how was your day, Bells?" he asked, not so subtly changing the subject.

"It was fine, nothing out of the ordinary. Dad came round for some lunch and almost found out about the party."

"What party?" Sarah interrupted, sounding excited.

"Granddad Charlie's party. It's his 50th birthday tomorrow, so we're throwing a surprise party at the diner."

"Will Sammy and Lily be there?" she asked, sounding even more excited. Lily was Sarah's best friend, and she was also really close to Sammy.

"Sure, and all the rest of the gang."

"Can I help you cook?" she asked, looking as eager as ever. She might have had an attitude, but my little girl was always quick to help me out when it came to cooking for the tribal parties. She had inherited my flair for baking, which certainly came in handy as we tried to satisfy the appetites of the pack.

"If you eat all of your vegetables and go to bed on time without complaining." I told her with a grin. She considered this for a second, before wolfing down her greens and looking at me triumphantly.

"Good girl. We'll make Granddad's cake in the morning."

* * *

><p>The next day the five of us made our way to the diner to help set up for the party. The kids all went out on the beach to play, and Jake and the boys decided to go out for a game of football, leaving us girls to sort out the food and decorations. A short while later when everything was ready, we heard Charlie's cruiser pull up in the parking lot and all hid in the kitchen, ready to surprise him. As far as Dad knew, he and Sue were coming to the diner for a meal to celebrate his birthday, but I could tell that he wasn't too shocked to see us all when we jumped out to 'surprise' him. Maybe I didn't give Charlie enough credit for his Chief of Police skills.<p>

Once all the food had been demolished and the dancing and silliness had begun, I noticed Quil sitting by himself in a booth with a glum expression. Remembering what Jake had told me last night about Claire, I made my way over to have a chat with him.

"Hey Quil, you mind if I sit?" I asked as I approached, and he looked up with a half-hearted smile.

"Sure Bells." He said, shuffling along the bench to make room for me. I sat down beside him and neither of us spoke for a moment, before I broke the silence.

"So, what's going on?" I asked, turning to face him. "You've not been for pancakes in a while, I think I'm going to have to close the diner due to lack of business." I joked, and he laughed a little.

"Sorry Bella, I've just been…" he paused for a moment, clearly thinking of the best word to finish his sentence, "…busy."

"Yeah, I've heard about Claire. You want to talk about it? I imagine I'm a better listener than Jake and Embry."

He hesitated for a second so that I thought he was going to tell me there was nothing to talk about, but he sighed and turned himself to face me.

"I just really don't know what to do Bella, I don't want to see Claire get hurt. You know what the imprint thing is like, I feel every emotion she feels but a thousand times stronger. I wouldn't mind if she was with a nice kid, but her boyfriend is a little dick! Did Jake tell you he got found on the beach the other night with-"

"With wolf liqueur, yeah I know." I finished for him, adding an eye roll for good measure. "Have you forgotten what you were like when I first met you? You loved to get drunk and having a good time! And from the stories I've heard over the years, you were just as bad at 16!"

"I know Bella, but I didn't have a girlfriend to mess about at that age! This kid could really hurt her!"

"Yeah you're right, he could. But he could turn out to be a great guy, just like you lot! That's life Quil, you can't expect Claire not to take any risks. How else do you expect her to learn?"

He considered this for a minute, not looking convinced. "So what do you think I should do?"

"For starters you need to stop this hate campaign against the boy, it's only going to drive a wedge between you and Claire. You still want her to be your friend, don't you?"

"Of course I do, I hate it when she won't speak to me. She should be here today but she's avoiding me."

"So go see her and apologise then! All you can do is be a good friend to her, then if this kid does end up hurting her she will still have you to rely on to cheer her up again."

"I guess." We sat in silence again for a minute, before I prompted him to go.

"So?"

"So what?" he asked, looking clueless.

"Go on then, go make it up to her!"

He grinned as I stood up and let him get out of the booth. "Ok, tell Charlie I said bye."

"Sure, sure. See you later Quil."

"Yeah see you Bella, and thanks."

"No problem." I smiled as he kissed me on the top of the head and ran for the door.

Before I could even take in what was happening around the rest of the room there was a commotion at the buffet table, and I knew instantly that at least one of my children would be involved. Sure enough as I made my way over to the crowd that had quickly gathered, Jake was pulling a giggling CJ away from the scene of the crime.

"What's he done now?" I asked as I approached them, but I quickly saw exactly what he had done. Will's face was completely covered in what I guessed was chocolate and blue icing, and there was a distinct face shaped dent in the cake Sarah and I had made that morning.

Jake was trying his best to look cross, but I could see in his eyes that he was amused at his son's antics. Just like the rest of the wolves, who were stifling giggles as I evil eyed them on my way to the now cake-covered Will.

"Come on you, let's go get you cleaned up." I said, grabbing his hand and leading him to the bathroom. As we passed Paul, he leaned over and swiped his finger down Will's cheek, before licking off the chocolate. The boys all snorted at once.

"Oh, grow up!" I snapped, making them howl with laughter. Luckily for them Will seemed just as amused by it all, and began to copy Paul by licking the icing from his face as we made our way to the bathroom.

**Jacob POV**

CJ was too busy giggling at the mess he had created to take any notice of me, so I picked him up and threw him over my shoulder to take him outside. I didn't like to discipline my kids; Bells was much better at it so I usually let her play bad cop. Once we were out in the car park I set him down, and knelt beside him.

"Why did you do that to your brother?" I asked him, trying my best to keep a straight face. In truth, I found it hilarious when the twins were up to no good, but I knew it would be me getting a telling off tonight from Bells if I didn't chastise my son.

"I saw it on TV" he told me matter-of-factly, shrugging his shoulders in a way that almost made me laugh out loud.

"And do you think that was a nice thing to do?"

He thought about this for a while before he shook his head, somewhat reluctantly.

"OK, so do you think you should go and say sorry to Will?"

"Sure, sure dad."

"I think you should probably say sorry to your sister too, she spent a long time making that cake."

With that we walked side by side back into the diner, and luckily the pack had composed themselves. Will was now clean once again and looked as happy as ever, but Sarah looked livid.

"Sorry Will." CJ said as soon as he was close enough to his siblings. "Sorry Sarah." He added, not quite looking her in the eye. He knew as well as I did that Sarah could be a hot head. She looked as though she was going to shout at him, but one stern glance from Bella and she changed her mind.

"It's OK, CJ." She said, and all three of my kids beamed at each other.

"OK, let's have a Black group hug then we can get back to the party!" I announced, pulling my incredible family into my arms.


	37. Claire's 21st:Part One

**CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN**

_**Five years later…**_

**Bella POV**

It was Claire's 21st birthday, so naturally the pack had planned a big traditional party for her; beach, bonfire, and lots of food and drink at the diner. We still referred to ourselves as 'the pack', although in reality all of the wolves except Quil had given up phasing.

At lunchtime we made our way to First beach, where the boys had already got the fire burning and were barbequing burgers and hot dogs. There were so many of us now that it was hard to keep track, but I always made sure that I kept an eye on my kids. The twins were now 10 and even more of a handful than ever, so I was forever worrying that they were doing something stupid and reckless. It certainly helped that their grandfather was Chief of the Quileutes; he was constantly getting them out of trouble.

Luckily for Jake and me, Sarah had taken more after her mother in that she was far more sensible than her brothers. She had just turned 13 and was _far_ too grown up for my liking. She and Lily were a great help for me and Emily though when it came to cooking food for our get-togethers, what with the ever growing number of children in our gang. Although the boys weren't technically wolves anymore, they still ate like they had during their time as an active pack. Sarah and Lily had been in the diner with us women all morning, cooking a seemingly endless amount of food we would need later tonight.

I took a seat on a log beside the fire and looked around happily; from my boys playing football with Paul's sons Ephraim and Caleb by the shore, to Sarah who was chatting away with Lily at the other side of the fire. Quil and Claire were cuddling on a log a little way from me, which made me smile as they reminded me a lot of Jake and me when we were younger. Claire had decided she wanted to be with Quil about two years before, after three years of dating other boys from the rez. I think the whole pack breathed a sigh of relief that day; Quil had been driving everyone mad with his older-brother protectiveness. Now as a couple they were inseparable, and both happier than I had ever seen them.

"Come get your burgers, kids!" Paul shouted, and there was a stampede as all the boys ran full speed for the mountain of freshly cooked meat. I felt a warm arm around my shoulder as Jake sat down beside me, handing me a hot dog with a grin.

"Thanks, Jake."

"No problem, honey."

We all sat around the fire and ate, listening to CJ and Will's animated story about their day at school yesterday. Of course the boys all found them hilarious as usual, but I hadn't been too impressed about being called into the principal's office for the sixth time that month. This time, CJ had dared Will to balance a jug of water on top of the classroom door, so that whoever entered the room next would get a soaking. Unluckily for them _and _for me, the next person in the door was the principal.

I could tell that Jake and the gang had been just like the twins when they were that age; after all they weren't much more mature these days. I had lost count of the amount of times I had found Quil encouraging CJ to put cellophane over the toilet seat, or Paul giving the boys ideas for an elaborate prank they should carry out. I had noted with interest that Paul always planted ideas into my kids' heads but never his own sons, who were always much better behaved than CJ and Will. There was only one logical reason for this which Jake had filled me in on: Paul was scared of Rachel. Knowing this information came in handy whenever we felt Paul needed putting in his place, as his wife certainly knew how to pull him down a peg or two.

Once the food was gone and the kids had all gone to play by the sea again, Quil walked over to us. I had noticed during the twins' tales of recent mischief and misbehaviour that he was being quieter than usual today, and he seemed nervous as he stood before us.

"I'm just going for a walk." He told Jake with a meaningful look. Jake instantly perked up, reaching out to shake his hand.

"Don't worry man, you'll be great." He told him, and Quil nodded in reply as he turned to leave. "Good luck, dude!" Jake added, to which Quil smiled weakly.

As soon as he had gone I turned to look at Jake, who pretended not to notice me staring at him.

"Well?" I eventually asked, irritated that he wasn't filling me in on whatever was happening.

"What?" he asked a little too innocently, utilising that same clueless face our sons adopted regularly; when they were pretending they hadn't just chopped all the heads off Emily's flowers, or shaved Charlie's neighbour's cat.

"Why does Quil need a pep talk to go for a walk?"

"Oh, that." He said casually, and I rolled my eyes. "Well I guess it's OK for me to tell you now, you'll all know soon enough. He's going to propose to Claire."

"What, now?" I asked, genuinely surprised for once. Usually I knew all the goings on within the group, but I hadn't seen this coming.

"Yep. That's why he's taking Claire for a walk."

I looked over in the direction Quil had headed, and saw the two of them disappearing into the forest. "Can you hear them?" I asked Jake, hoping he would be able to keep me updated on Quil's progress. I knew how much Claire loved him so there was no doubt in my mind what her answer would be, but Quil didn't exactly have a way with words. The proposal would probably have been entertaining to listen in on, after all there were no secrets within the pack.

"Nope, not from that distance. Wolfy senses aren't what they used to be, Bells." Quil had obviously planned to make the moment private, probably to avoid being the subject of all the jokes afterwards.

We sat there together and waited for what felt like a painfully long time for the pair to emerge from the trees. In that time I realised that everyone around the fire now knew what Quil was up to, and we were all sitting silently, looking in the direction of the trees as we waited for news. Finally Jake nudged me, his keener eyesight clearly spotting something I couldn't make out amongst the dense trees of the forest.

"It's Quil… I can't see his expression yet… well they're holding hands so it can't have gone horribly…"

"She must've said yes, they're grinning like a pair of loons!" Paul laughed, and the whole group began to laugh too.

"So are we pretending we don't know?" Emily asked as the pair got closer, but nobody could keep the smiles from their faces.

"Congratulations!" We all shouted when they were near enough. Claire was swamped with hugs from the girls, as we all crowded around to get a look at the ring, and Quil received many pats on the back from the boys.

"So finally, the pack are all gonna be married off!" Quil pointed out with a grin.

"Always knew you'd be the last, Ateara. Didn't think it would ever happen if I'm honest." Embry laughed, shoving him playfully.

"She was worth the wait." Quil grinned, pulling his new fiancée closer to him.

"OK, you're making me wanna puke now!" Paul laughed, then added; "Who's taking the first celebratory shot then? Shorty?"

"Sure, sure." I laughed, standing up to take the bottle from Paul's hand.

"Oh, here we go… it's always an eventful night when Bella's drinking!"

Paul was right; it certainly turned out to be an eventful night. Just not in the way we were expecting.


	38. Claire's 21st:Part Two

**CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT**

**BELLA POV**

A few hours later everyone was starving so we all made our way back to the diner. I had probably had one too many shots thanks to Paul, so Jake ended up pretty much carrying me across the sand. My clumsiness was infinitely worse when I was tipsy, which Jake knew only too well. The whole group was in a great mood now that the day had become a double celebration, and Claire looked like she was really enjoying her birthday party.

While everyone devoured the buffet I sat with my coffee, which Jake had made me in the hope that it would sober me up. When everyone had finished eating and the boys had cleared all the plates away, I perched myself on Jacob's knee. He was having a discussion with Paul about something to do with the garage, but I wasn't really listening. Sarah had told me a few nights before that she had a crush on Sammy, who was now as tall as Sam and almost as muscular as Jacob had been during his time as a wolf. They were sitting together in the corner, and I noticed Sammy wrap his arm around Sarah's shoulder. I smiled and noticed that Emily was watching happily too: ever since Sarah was born we had been having conversations about how the two of them should get married. Of course Sarah was still far too young to have a serious boyfriend, especially in Jake's eyes. He had overheard Emily and me discussing our children's future wedding once and had hit the roof, telling me that Sarah wasn't going to have a boyfriend until she was at least 30.

"God, you're really hot!" Sarah suddenly exclaimed, gesturing to Sammy's arm on her shoulders and instantly sobering me. I froze, feeling the atmosphere turn instantly tense as the rest of the adults froze too. Every knowing head turned in horror to look at Sammy as he cheekily replied.

"Of course I'm hot, I mean look at me! Took you long enough to catch on!" he winked, misunderstanding her statement.

"No, I mean you're _hot_. Like you have a fever or something-"

That was all it took for chaos to ensue within the diner. There were rushed orders for everyone to head home, as Sam quickly stood from the table and strode over to his son. Emily looked terrified.

"Em, take Lily home." Jake told her before turning to me. "Bells honey, you take the kids home and I'll see you there later. I think Sam's going to need help with this." He sounded calm, but I could tell from the look in his eyes that he was thinking exactly what I was thinking. Would our boys be next? Instead of allowing myself to panic, I stood and called out to the kids.

"Sarah, boys, come on we're heading home."

"But mum…" Will started, but I quickly silenced him with what he recognised as my 'do as I say, or else' look.

"We're going." I told him firmly, nodding to the rest of the gang as we all hurried out of the diner and said our abrupt goodbyes. I heard Jacob snap at Sarah for trying to hug Sammy goodbye, so I quickly grabbed her hand to make her join me and her brothers.

"Mum! What is going on? Dad never shouts at me like that." She questioned me as we hurried along the street, her voice raising a little.

"It's nothing, we just think that Sammy's sick. Your dad doesn't want you catching it, that's all." My heart caught in my chest as I said this, realising that she too could be at risk of developing the werewolf gene. I fought back the tears, thinking about how difficult Leah had had it when she had been a wolf.

"Jeez, it must be serious," CJ started, before Will finished his thought for him.

"Yeah, everyone up and left like Sammy had the plague or something."

"It's not serious is it? Daddy's not going to be sick too is he?" Sarah asked, sounding panicked now.

"Calm down, it's just a fever. Your dad and a few of your uncles got it when they were younger, and they're all fine now aren't they." I said, trying to reassure her. She nodded, but I could see she was upset.

When we got home one of the boys turned on the TV and we all sat around to watch, but I wasn't paying attention as my mind was with Jacob. What if Sammy was experiencing the change? What did this mean for us? I suddenly felt very alone, knowing what implications a new phasing carried, and knowing my wolf was not currently here to protect our family. As if in answer to my thoughts there was a sudden knock on the door, causing me to jump so much that I left the chair I had occupied and landed on the floor with a thump. The kids all gave me an odd look and CJ jumped up to help me to my feet while Will headed for the door.

"Will, no! Don't answer it!" I yelled, fearing that a vampire could be nearby. He ignored me, raising his hand to turn the handle and looking at me as if I had gone crazy.

"Why? It's only Uncle Paul."

I let out a sigh of relief when he pulled the door back and Paul strode purposely in, looking straight at me and ignoring the kids. "Everything okay?" he asked, giving me a meaningful look.

"Yeah, yeah it's fine. I'm just a bit… y'know."

He nodded, knowing fully what I was referring to. It was only then that I realised Rachel and their sons were standing in the doorway too.

"Boys, sit down and watch TV with your cousins for a bit. Your mum and I need to speak with your Aunt Bella."

They didn't say anything as they both took a seat on the sofa with my kids. Sarah however looked as if she was about to have an outburst, but I silenced her with another one of my serious looks. I rarely used authority with the kids, so they knew when something was important and she didn't argue. She shrugged her shoulders with an irritated shake of her head, knowing something was going on.

"I am 13, you know. I'm basically an adult." She said to me, but Paul answered before I could speak.

"We know, your present cost me a fortune. Now look after the boys for a bit and shut up." He said with a sarcastic smile, and she stuck her tongue out at him but didn't follow as we headed out the back door into the garden.

"Do you know what's going on?" I quickly asked as soon as the door was closed. He put his finger to his lips and tilted his head for a second, and I realised he was listening to see if the kids were eavesdropping. Although the superhuman abilities had weakened when they quit phasing, the guys still had much keener senses than your average human.

"They're all talking about Sammy, they can't hear us." He told us, before answering my question. "As we were leaving the diner Jacob told me to come here, so that you weren't left unprotected. If this is what we think it is, then we can't take any risks right now."

"Of course it is what we think it is." Rachel suddenly spoke up, sounding annoyed. I realised she was probably feeling the same way as me: worried for the future of her kids. Paul gave her an irritated look, but she persisted.

"I know you've all always thought that Bella needs protecting more than the rest of us for whatever reason, but she doesn't. She can handle the truth." Paul looked like he wanted to argue, but I supported Rachel.

"She's right Paul, I'm not stupid. Sammy's grown about a foot in the last couple of months, and if he was hot… Emily must be beside herself." I thought of Emily then and realised she was also without her wolf at that moment. "Wait, what about Em and Lily? They need protection too-"

"Quil and Claire are there." Paul answered my question before I finished speaking. "He's on standby in case Sammy phases; he's the only one who can still talk to him in wolf form. You know, pack mind and all that."

We were all silent for a minute, before I voiced another question that popped into my head.

"What are Jake and Sam doing now? They can't exactly keep Sammy hidden until he's phased because it doesn't happen that quickly, does it? And it might never happen…" I added, truly hoping this would be the case.

"They're going to provoke it." Paul said, rubbing a hand through his hair with a look of discomfort. "They've taken him into the forest to make him mad, and see what happens. It's not ideal but it's better than him randomly phasing one day at school or something, you know what happened to Emily when she got too close." He tilted his head again then, listening to whatever was happening in the house. "Sarah's decided that she should listen to what's going on out here. Let's go inside, Jake's probably going to be gone all night so we may as well get comfy."

I nodded, leading them back through the door. As I pushed it open, even I heard the footsteps running back into the living room. When we entered the room I saw Sarah looking a little out of breath, and she avoided my gaze.

"Hear anything interesting?" I laughed in an attempt to sound carefree, flicking her arm playfully.

She glowered at me then announced, "I'm going to bed. I can't handle any more of this weirdness." She gave me and then Paul a pointed look as she passed us, heading for the stairs. She had definitely inherited my stubbornness, but luckily most of the time she was as happy and sunny as Jacob.

"It looks like you guys are staying the night, so you may as well go and get the beds ready." I told my nephews. They stayed over quite a lot as they were close to Will and Charlie, so they knew the drill. "Go and play on your xbox or whatever it is you boys do." I told my sons, watching them both jump up eagerly, not needing any further prompting to go and play video games. The twins were much more laid back than Sarah and me; every inch their father's sons.

"Night mum" they both told me with a kiss on the cheek as they made their way to their room. Jacob and Paul had added an extension to the house a few years ago, so that the twins could have a large room to share. "Night Uncle Paul, Aunt Rach." They both added, as the three of us took their places on the sofas.

"Food or drink?" I asked my sister-in-law and my good friend, already knowing what the latter's answer would be.

"Of course." Paul nodded with a cheeky grin, earning himself an elbow to the ribs from Rachel.

"You just ate like an hour ago!" she laughed in disbelief. "Give Bella a break for once!"

"No it's fine, I need to keep busy." I told her, heading to the kitchen before she could protest. A few seconds later Paul was wrapping a warm arm around my shoulder.

"How are you really?" he asked, fully understanding that I would be in a complete state of panic inside.

"Shitting myself." I finally decided, thinking that was the best way to describe my feelings. He snorted, and I continued to vent my worries on him. "What about my boys? And your boys! And even Sarah! And all the rest of the kids… who's next?" I rambled quickly, feeling the panic rising in my voice.

"Honestly? Probably Josh. He's next oldest after Sammy."

"And then? Then it's Sarah and Lily! Will they phase too?"

"I really can't answer that Bella, because we don't know anything. At this stage only Sammy could phase, or the whole lot of them could follow. We just don't know."

I accepted that it was all just speculation at this point, but I was still panicking. The most pressing question left my lips then. "Does this mean that there are vampires in La Push?" I whispered, not daring to say it any louder.

"Looks like it. But it could just be one for all we know. And they might not even be dangerous- the Cullens could be back or something." He was obviously trying to calm me down, but it wasn't working. He must have noticed that the tears in my eyes were threatening to spill over, because he pulled me into a firm embrace and I was glad for the comforting heat.

"There's no use worrying at this point Bella. There are so many different 'what ifs' that it's useless to even think about things until we know more. Just try and relax, at least till Jake gets home. He'll kill me if he sees what a state you're in." he chuckled, and I laughed with him knowing how true that probably was.

I must have drifted off on the sofa, because I suddenly jerked awake as Paul jumped up from the chair next to me and ran to the door. In my half-asleep state I went into full panic mode thinking we were under attack, and launched myself towards the bedrooms where my kids were currently sleeping. I heard the front door open and hushed voices, then felt a pair of warm arms surround and restrain me just as I got to Sarah's bedroom door.

"It's alright honey, it's only me." Jake's husky voice whispered in my ear, as he turned me back to the living room. "Don't wake the kids up, they'll only want to know what's happening."

"What _is_ happening?" I asked as we got back to the sofa, where he gently pulled me down onto his lap.

"Sammy phased." He said with a sigh. I took a proper look at him now that I could see his face, and he looked exhausted. "Lovely black fur, just like his daddy." He added, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

"Is he okay?" I asked, remembering how Jacob had described the first time he phased all those years ago.

"Yeah, I mean, he took it as well as any of us did. Made it worse that we couldn't get into his head to explain things to him; we had to wait for Quil to get there, but Sam and I agreed there was no point in either of us trying to phase yet. We don't know what would happen if we phased now, after all this time. Sam knows what it's like to be the first to phase so he could explain it all pretty well through Quil, that'll have to do for now."

"Where is Sammy now?" Paul asked. "Is Sam still with him?"

"Yeah he's with him. He just phased back about an hour ago and seemed pretty calm, so he's taken him home." We all raised our eyebrows, shocked that Sam would take any risks after what he had done to Emily, and Jake quickly elaborated. "He's keeping him in the garden so he can keep an eye on his whole family at the same time."

"And Josh?" Paul asked, and Jake sighed again.

"His temperature is up a little, but Jared thinks he's still weeks away. He's had a growth spurt, but nothing compared to Sammy. It could just be normal."

"What about our boys?" I asked then, biting my lip to hold back all the emotion behind the question. He gave me a knowing look, and kissed my forehead gently.

"There's no record of kids phasing so young, but I guess it depends on the situation. As in, how many vamps there are, how dangerous they are." I must have looked even more worried then, because he pulled me closer. "I'll keep a close eye on them Bells. A _very_ close eye. But stop worrying, worst case scenario we're gonna have to triple the grocery budget." He joked, and I slapped his arm.

"Not funny. What about Sarah?" I asked, not wanting to hear this answer.

"I don't know." He answered honestly, not meeting my eye. He looked just as worried about his little princess as I felt. "Let's just try not to piss her off too much for the time being." He told me, before turning to Rachel and thankfully changing the subject. "It's 4am so you may as well stay here now, sis. No point waking the boys at this time. There's a blow up bed in mine and Bells' room, I'll go get it."

Twenty minutes later Jake and I were in bed, but I knew I wouldn't be able to get any sleep. In truth I didn't _want_ to sleep; I was too terrified that I would be dreaming of my two babies hunting vampires to protect the tribe, just as their father had done all those years before.


	39. Daddy's Little Girl

**CHAPTER THIRTY NINE**

**Bella POV**

A week had passed since Sammy had phased and things were starting to return to normal, or as normal as life could be given the situation. None of the other kids had shown any signs that they were going to be phasing soon, and there had been no sightings of any vampires, so we had all relaxed a little. Sammy was still in hiding whilst he learned to control himself, and Quil was teaching him the basics of being a wolf. The kids had all been told that Sammy had contracted mono, so even my suspicious Sarah had stopped asking awkward questions.

Jacob was at the garage, Sarah was on her way home from school and Will and CJ were watching The Simpsons in the living room, so I decided to make a start on dinner. I was just pulling the macaroni cheese out of the oven when I heard the front door open, and thinking it was Sarah coming in from school I poked my head into the living room and called out to her.

"Dinner's ready in 5, honey! Would you call your dad for me and let him know?"

She didn't reply, so I walked out to see if she had heard me. The living room door burst open and Jake came storming through, looking furious. He didn't even look at me as he passed me to walk out the back door, but I could see that his hands were shaking. Will and CJ were still sitting on the sofa, but they were no longer watching the TV. Their gazes were now fixed on the doorway, where Sarah was standing in shock.

"Dad!" she shouted, looking close to tears, but he didn't even acknowledge her as he slammed the back door shut behind him.

"Sarah? What's going on?" I asked as she sat down heavily on the sofa next to her brothers, a confused look on her face.

"I don't know, but something weird." She replied slowly, staring towards the door where her dad had just disappeared.

"Why's your dad so angry?" I asked her, kneeling down in front of her.

"I really don't know, I can't explain… I've never seen dad like that before."

"Well what happened? _Something_ must've happened to make him like that!" I was starting to panic now, had something awful happened?

"Well I was walking home from school with Lily, and Dad was outside Lily's house talking to Sam when we got there. They stopped talking when we got near enough like they didn't want us to hear, and dad said he'd walk home with me. So I asked Sam how Sammy was because he's still not back at school, and Josh says he's got mono. But then Sammy came out of the house, and he's really changed… he's cut his hair off and got even bigger since last week. So I said hi, and he came over to say hi, but when he looked at me he just… like froze or something. Looked at me really weird."

I knew Sammy would have changed physically after his transformation, but couldn't understand how this had led to Jake storming through the house like that. "What happened then?" I prompted, and a scowl crossed her face.

"Dad got _really_ mad, like shouting at Sammy and stuff. So Sam told Sammy to go inside, and he kept saying sorry to Dad. 'It's not ideal' and 'at least you know he's a good kid', stuff like that. But Dad was fuming. So then he grabbed my hand and practically pulled me all the way home, but he never said a word to me."

I still tried to put the pieces together while the kids stared at me expectantly, but there was only one thing I could think of that could have happened. I stood up abruptly, looking to the back of the house.

"Mum? What is it? Will you explain what's going on?" Sarah asked, looking even more confused.

"I need to make sure your dad's OK, will you dish the macaroni up? It's ready in the kitchen." I told her, handing her the oven mitt that I was still wearing and jogging to the back door. I hoped that Jake had managed to calm himself enough not to phase, as none of us knew what would happen if one of the guys phased again after quitting for so long.

"Jake?" I called as I opened the door, pausing only to close it again behind myself.

"Over here honey." Jake's tense, but steady voice called back to me from just within the treeline. I hesitated a minute, then walked between the trees at the end of the garden. Jake was standing there, still with an angry scowl on his face, but no longer shaking. "Sorry for ignoring you, I needed to get some control." He said, looking at me while hanging his head shamefully.

"Don't worry about it, the last thing we need is for you to phase again." I told him, rubbing his arm. He continued to look at me for a moment, then pulled me towards him.

"Is Sarah alright?" he asked, wrapping his arms around me.

"Yeah she's fine, just confused." I answered, then we both paused for a minute. "Did Sammy imprint?" Jake didn't reply, but the low growl that came from somewhere within his chest answered the question for me. "Oh." Again, he didn't speak, but held me tighter. "Well Sam's right, we know Sammy's a good kid, me and Emily have always wanted Sarah to end up with him-"

"But not yet!" he interrupted angrily. "She's only just turned 13, how is that fair? She's a kid for god's sake!"

"Well Claire was only 2, but her and Quil have ended up alright." I pointed out, but this didn't seem to help. "You know as well as I do that this doesn't mean she's going to run off and marry him straight way, they've got years ahead of them."

We were silent for a few minutes, before Jake replied. "I just don't want to lose my baby girl."

"I know you don't, but think about it logically! They're just going to be friends for a few years aren't they, which they already are, so things aren't going to change! When you imprinted on me, Charlie didn't lose me! I'm 36 now and I still see him every day! Plus think of it this way; Sarah's got an extra protector now. She'll always be happy, what more could you want for our daughter? I don't think it's a bad thing at all."

He pulled away a little and looked at me for a few moments, before sighing in defeat. "You're right, I know you are. It's just hard… I just want to protect my little girl."

"You're still her favourite man," I laughed, kissing his cheek. "At least you will be once you apologise for freaking her out."

"Yeah, I better go and talk to her I guess." He said, taking my hand and leading me back into the house. To my surprise, Sarah had done as I asked and the twins were sitting at the table while she handed them plates of food.

"Thanks, honey." I said, walking over to her. "I'll do the rest, you go talk to your dad." I told her, squeezing her arm reassuringly as she glared at Jake. She hesitated for a second before walking over to him, and he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and led her into the living room out of our hearing range.

"What's going on?" CJ asked me quietly, and Will looked at me eagerly.

"Misunderstanding between your sister and your dad, that's all." I told them as I took my seat at the table. "Eat up, they'll be back in a minute." Luckily for me the twins were as easy to control as their father when it came to food; give them a plate and no questions would be asked. They both tucked into their meal, not even looking up when Jake and Sarah came back into the room and sat next to each other at the table, big smiles on their faces.

After dinner we were all watching TV in the room when the phone rang. No one moved to answer it, in fact no one even averted their eyes from the screen, so I let out a sigh as I got to my feet.

"I'll answer it then shall I?" I asked sarcastically, to which no one responded. Once I had picked up the receiver and said hello, I found that it was Emily calling.

"Hey Em, how's Sammy?" I asked her, noticing Jake finally remove his eyes from the screen to watch me.

"He's OK Bella, he's just a little upset. He thinks Jake hates him after what happened."

"Of course he doesn't hate him!" I exclaimed, seeing Jake looking more than a little ashamed about his earlier outburst. "He was just a little shocked, that's all."

"I know, we've tried telling Sammy that but he thinks he's done something wrong. We've tried to explain that it was out of his control, but…"

I wasn't really sure what to say, but luckily Jake crossed the room and took the receiver from me.

"Hey Em, do you mind if I bring Sarah over now?"

I couldn't hear the response, but Jake nodded so I gathered she had said yes.

"We'll be there in 5." He said, placing the phone back in its holder and turning to face the kids. "Come on Sarah, we're going out."

"Where to?" she asked, finally tearing her attention away from whatever programme she was watching. Clearly she had not been listening in on the phone conversation.

"Sammy's." he answered, and her expression changed to a mixture of joy and apprehension. "Don't worry, I'm not going to get mad again. But he wants to talk to you." And then as an afterthought, "And I should probably apologise for earlier."

**Jacob POV**

When we got to Sam's house, I paused on the doorstep and turned to Sarah. I had calmed down a lot thanks to Bells, but the fact was I was still pissed about what had happened. I wanted my baby girl to have choices in life, and although I didn't regret my imprinting one single bit, I never liked the fact that it was out of my control. As well as being mad about the imprinting, I was nervous about telling Sarah my secret. She was my little girl, and having her be scared and thinking that her daddy was a monster would have broken my heart.

"Look honey, you're going to be told a story when we get in there. But I don't want you to be scared, OK? You need to listen to everything carefully so that you understand it all. And just remember, I love you and I always will. To the moon and back."

She looked worried and I expected her to start asking questions already, but she simply replied with a small smile, "I love you too daddy, to the moon and back." I returned her smile, taking her tiny hand in mine. Then with a deep breath, I knocked on the door.

Of course Sam, and Sammy probably, would have already been aware of our presence. A few seconds passed before Emily opened the door, smiling as usual but the smile didn't reach her eyes. Sam had told me she hadn't taken the news of Sammy's phasing very well, and I could hear the strain in her voice as she greeted us.

"Come on in, the boys are waiting in the living room."

We walked into the Uleys' small living room and took a seat side by side on the couch, facing Sam and Sammy who were already seated on the other couch. The whole thing was very strange and formal, and I could see that Sarah felt uncomfortable. She had known these people all her life and we were practically family, but we were acting like strangers. We sat in silence as Emily handed out drinks and cookies, then I watched her disappear upstairs with Lily. Sam didn't seem to want to start the conversation, so I broke the silence.

"So… Sarah. You know the stories Grandpa Billy tells everyone at the tribe bonfires?"

"The scary stories?" she asked, being caught off guard by the direction of the conversation. "About the cold ones."

"Yeah, the cold ones. Well they're not just scary stories, honey. They are real."

There was silence for a second, then she spoke up again. "What, you mean there are people who drink other people's blood?"

"Yeah. They're called vampires."

"Like Dracula?"

"Yeah, kind of. And do you remember the other bit too, about the wolves?"

"The men turn into wolves to protect the tribe from cold ones." She said slowly, and I couldn't help feeling a little proud. At least one of the kids listened to my dad! When we went through this with Sammy last week, it was clear he had never listened to a word of the Quileute legends.

"Yeah, good girl. Well that's true too. Some Quileutes like me, and Sam, have a special gene that makes us turn into wolves so that we can protect the tribe."

She looked alarmed for a long moment, and my heart dropped. In my head I prayed that she wasn't going to run away from me screaming, but eventually her expression changed and a huge grin spread across her face.

"You turn into a wolf?"

I let out a sigh of relief before responding. "Well, I used to. I haven't done it in a while."

"Can you show me?"

I hesitated for a minute. I would do anything for my little princess, but we weren't sure what the consequences would be if I phased now. I hadn't phased for ten years, and didn't want to ruin my progress after all that time. As I tried to think how to answer her, Sammy interrupted.

"I can!"

Sarah looked over to the other side of the room with a start, seeming to have completely forgotten we weren't alone. It didn't take her long to recover though.

"You can change into a wolf too?" she asked, seeming really interested.

"Yeah, a black one."

"What colour are you, dad?"

"I _was_ russet brown… but I haven't turned into a wolf since you were a baby."

"Why not?"

"Because…" I took a moment to think again. There were so many things to tell her about the pack, but I didn't want to overload her with information. "When we turned into wolves, we didn't get older. But then I met your mum and we got married, then we had you and your brothers, and I wanted to grow old with my family."

She looked at me thoughtfully. "I guess it would be weird to have a really young dad."

Sam and I both laughed at that observation. "Yeah, I guess it would."

"So can I see the wolf?" she asked me enthusiastically, and I glanced at Sammy who seemed just as excited about showing off his new trick.

"Do you think it's safe?" I asked Sam, and he nodded in response. That was good enough for me; I knew that Sam would never put anyone in danger after what he had accidentally done to Emily. "OK then, we best go in the garden. Don't want Sammy to tear the couch to shreds."

The four of us made our way into the back garden, and I covered Sarah's eyes with my hands while Sammy got undressed. When I took my hands away to reveal the human sized black wolf now standing in Sammy's place, Sarah laughed out loud.

"That is so cool! Can I stroke him, dad?"

I was about to say no, but Sammy took a careful step towards us and lowered his head so that Sarah could reach up and touch his fur. Once I was satisfied that she wasn't in any danger, I stepped over to whisper to Sam.

"Do you think we should tell her about the imprinting?"

"I've been thinking about it, and maybe she doesn't need to know _everything _yet. She's taken this bit really well, but we don't want to overwhelm her. Anyway, it's not as though her relationship with Sammy will change. They might want to hang out more than usual, but I don't think she needs to know all the details just yet. It's confusing enough to us, never mind to a thirteen year old."

I nodded in agreement as I watched her laughing; Sammy had just licked her arm. Secretly I was glad that she wouldn't find any of that out yet; somehow it felt like I wasn't going to lose her so soon if she didn't know _all_ the secrets.

"We can break it to her bit by bit." I agreed, then spoke louder so Sarah could hear me. "Come on honey, time to let Sammy be human again now."

"Aww, can't I play with him a bit longer?"

"Nope, it's getting late and your mum will want you in bed. You've got school tomorrow."

She groaned but obeyed, heading back into the house. "I'll catch you up honey, why don't you go say goodnight to Emily and Lily?"

Once the door to the house had closed behind her, I turned back to see Sammy pulling his shirt back over his head.

"Hey kid," I began, rubbing the back of my neck awkwardly. "I'm sorry for getting so mad earlier. It was just a bit of a shock."

"It's OK. For what it's worth, I get it Mr Black." Sammy returned, and I laughed out loud.

"I've known you all your life, so now is _not _the time to start calling me Mr Black. You used to call me unca Jake, I'd prefer that!" he visibly relaxed and laughed with me a little. "Just make sure your intentions are honourable with my baby girl, or there's gonna be trouble. You're big enough for a smack now."

He nodded solemnly, so I turned to go back into the house. Sam joined me and I could see he was trying not to laugh.

"Your _intentions_ are _honourable_?" he sputtered with a smirk, and I gave him a shove.

"You're big enough for a smack too, you know." I said with mock seriousness. "We're getting old aren't we, it's crazy! I didn't think those words would ever be coming out of my mouth."


	40. An Unexpected Visitor

**CHAPTER FORTY**

**Bella POV**

Five years had passed since Sammy had first phased, and Josh had gone through the change shortly afterwards. To my relief none of the other boys, or girls for that matter, had joined the new pack. The pair carried out regular patrols of the rez although they had only once found a trail, and there hadn't been any suspicious deaths either in La Push or Forks for many years. I had begun to believe that my sons would never have to deal with the great responsibility that Jake had been given at the age of 15.

Speaking of my sons; they were now 16 and Sarah had recently turned 18, and the five of us were on our way to Charlie's house for dinner like we did every Thursday evening. The boys were telling Jake animatedly about their day at school which had involved a fight between one of Paul and Rachel's sons, and a bully in the grade above him.

"…And then he just growled at him dad, you should've seen it! The kid almost wet his pants right there in the middle of the hall!"

"Sounds just like his dad" I muttered as Jake laughed along with the boys, and I caught Sarah rolling her eyes at me in the mirror.

"I'm starving." Jake announced, patting his stomach and making me roll my eyes this time.

"Me too" the twins said in unison, high fiving each other as they always did when they said the same thing or finished one another's sentences.

"So what's new?" Sarah muttered, but I noticed a smile cross her lips.

Although Sarah still had her stubborn flare, her attitude greatly improved after she discovered Sammy's secret and I was sure it was down to the calming effects of the imprint. She seemed to have gained some of Sammy's level-headedness, although she did argue with Jake and me a lot about how much time she should be spending with Sammy. Jake eventually accepted the imprint was out of his control, although he had done his best to control our daughter's relationship status. He had made it very clear that the two of them were to remain 'just friends' until after Sarah had turned 18, but I knew they had secretly been an item for almost a year now.

When we arrived outside Charlie's house, Jake pulled onto the drive and we all opened the car doors, clambering out onto the tarmac. I started to make my way to the front door, but instantly got the sense that something wasn't right. There was something in the air: something had caused the happy, carefree atmosphere to alter suddenly. As I slowly turned I found that Sarah was right beside me; but Jake, CJ and Will had all frozen in their spots at the driver and rear doors of the car. All were trembling, and all had furious looks on their faces. Before my brain could even process what was happening, I looked to the trees at the side of the house and my eyes received the answer.

Standing there, still as a corpse, was someone I had not seen in many years.

Edward Cullen.

**Jacob POV**

I smelt it as soon as I opened the car door. My senses had become a little rusty after years of neglect, but there was no mistaking that scent. The stench of bloodsucker was in the air, so strong that it almost made me retch. I instantly felt my old instincts start to kick in: after all I was the only thing standing between my family and whatever threat was lurking nearby.

I took a quick look around; Bells and Sarah were obliviously making their way up the drive, but my boys remained by the car, completely still apart from the furious trembling that had begun in their hands. They could sense the danger too.

There were too many things for me to deal with all at once, and several thoughts ran through my head in quick succession. Where was the scent coming from? _What _was it coming from? Were the twins about to phase? Were Sarah and Bells safe from the leech _and _the boys?

I attempted to assess the threat to my family; my instincts told me that there was only one leech nearby and the scent was familiar. The only vamps we had come into contact with that hadn't ended up a burning pile of limbs were those protected by the treaty, so I assumed it was a Cullen. Although they had always insisted they were no danger to us I had never trusted them, so I was relieved when I heard the sound of something huge and fast approaching through the trees. Sammy.

Just before Sammy came into focus, a figure stepped out of the trees beside the house and confirmed what my brain had already realised: a Cullen was here. In Forks. My least favourite Cullen. Not that I had liked any of them, but this was the creepy mindreading one who had particularly rubbed me up the wrong way with his obsession with my Bells.

Just then Sammy burst through the trees right beside us, facing the bloodsucker and snarling. He didn't even flinch, just stood there like a scary statue. He looked right past Sammy and fixed his stare on Bells, who was now right beside me clutching my arm and shielding Sarah with the other. The boys were still in the same place by the car doors, but were trembling much more violently now. I realised that they could be on the verge of phasing, but that was the least of my worries right now. I assumed the leech had read some form of aggressive thought in Sammy's mind, because he finally broke the tense silence.

"I'm here to warn you and protect you. You are all in danger."

How ironic, the leech telling _me _about danger. Sammy's huge hairy face turned to look at me for a second, and I gave him the slightest of nods. The shared pack mind would've been more useful, but we would have to make do.

"Danger from what?" I asked, as Sammy returned to his snarling.

"The Volturi."

If it weren't for the fact that my family were so exposed, and my sons were about to join a life of serving and protecting against their will, I would probably have taken a leaf out of my wife's book and rolled my eyes at him. "You've got exactly one minute to explain what that means before I set Sammy on you. Our steaks will be getting cold."

"The Volturi;" he repeated in an annoyingly monotone, disinterested voice. "They are the oldest vampires in the world. They are based in Volterra in Italy, where they have created their own… government; I suppose you would call it. They take it upon themselves to ensure we are all abiding their laws."

I snorted at that. "What laws could a bloodsucker possibly have to live by?"

"There aren't many, but the most important of course is to keep our existence a secret."

"OK, so there are some creepy old bloodsuckers in Italy who make their own laws. What does that have to do with us?"

"Aro, the leader of the Volturi, can read every thought a person has ever had just by touching his or her hand. I saw him recently and he used this power on me, as he always does, and he learned of your existence."

"_My_ existence?"

"The pack's existence. Werewolves. His brother Caius believed he had killed the whole species off hundreds of years ago."

"So they want to come and kill us?"

"Not exactly. You see, you are not actually standard werewolves, as they _were_ all killed off as far as we know. Your tribe are shape shifters; you shift into the form of a wolf in order to protect your people from our species."

"Great history lesson we're getting here, but what difference does this make to the chief bloodsucker?"

"He doesn't want to kill you… he wants to add you to his possessions. You see, Aro likes to recruit vampires with special abilities if he believes they will be of use to him. He collects them to form his guard. Now, a pack of shape shifting native American wolves who exist only to kill vampires seems very tempting to Aro. He believes with you in his guard he can never be defeated."

"But you've just got it spot on – we exist only to kill you bloodsuckers. So why does he think he can 'recruit' us?"

"He thinks you will accept his offer instead of the alternative."

"The alternative?"

"He will kill your tribe; women… children… every last one of you."

"Brilliant." I muttered, feeling myself begin to tremble again with rage. "And this is all because of you."

"I sincerely apologise for the part I have played. This is why I am here; to offer you my family's services."

"You think we want help from _you_? Haven't you done enough?"

"I am aware that you may not want our help, but your pack is somewhat inexperienced at the moment. The special abilities my sister and I possess will be invaluable when it comes to fighting the Volturi, and my brother Jasper is very experienced in training vampires to fight. We will therefore be able to prepare your pack to face the Volturi, and we will be there to support you when the time comes."

"And when exactly is the time coming?"

"My sister Alice informs me that Aro plans to lead the Volturi to the treaty line in four weeks' time."

"And that gives us long enough to prepare, does it?"

Before Cullen could answer there was a commotion to my left, and I saw CJ becoming more and more agitated. By my guessing, he could phase any minute and Will wouldn't be far behind.

"I can see that you have more pressing matters at hand; I would suggest moving Bella and your daughter out of harm's way."

"I don't need advice from you, leech!" I spat. He was right, but I was well aware of what I needed to do in order to protect all of my family. Turning to Bella, I spoke calmly but quickly as she stared back with anxious eyes. "Take Sarah inside honey, I'm sure Charlie's realised something is going on by now."

She nodded and turned, half dragging Sarah along the path to the front door, but before she entered the house she called to me.

"Make sure our boys are safe, Jake."

"Sure sure, Bells."

Once my wife and daughter were safely indoors, I started to take care of the situation with my sons.

"Sammy, does Josh know what's happening?" the wolf nodded his head at me and let out a whine, which I assumed meant he was on his way. "Right, we need to get these two out of sight."

CJ looked closer to phasing, so Sammy trotted over to him and gently nudged him with his nose, forcing him to move closer to the trees. I placed my hand on Will's shoulder cautiously, very aware that he could phase any second and seriously injure me.

"How're you doing, Will?" I asked, feeling how high his temperature had got as I attempted to make him move away from the house.

"What's going on, Dad? I'm so hot, and… I feel really, really angry. Who was that guy? I swear, I thought I was going to rip his head off! And what's with that huge wolf? Why were you talking to it? Is it going to hurt CJ?"

I held up my free hand to silence the stream of questions. "Your brother's fine. I'll explain everything real soon, we just need to get under cover of the trees." I looked up and saw that CJ was almost out of sight, being jostled along by Sammy the wolf. "Come on, kid."

**Bella POV**

Sarah and I watched through Charlie's kitchen window as Jake, the twins and Sammy all disappeared into the forest between Forks and the rez. There was no sign of Edward now; he disappeared at some point too fast for my human eyes to see. Charlie and Sue were also in the kitchen; Sue talking hurriedly on the phone, I assumed to Billy. When I could see nothing outside but the gentle swaying of the branches in the wind, I tore my eyes away from the window to find Sarah staring right at me.

"Are CJ and Will going to be like Sammy?" she asked me, looking a little anxious. I was momentarily so grateful that Sarah already knew about the tribe; trying to come up with some lie to cover up this mess would've been impossible.

"It looks like it." I answered simply, not wanting her to know how worried I was. Luckily Sue chose that moment to hang up the phone, so Sarah was distracted from asking me any questions about Edward.

"I've spoken to Billy. Josh should be with them any minute, and the other men are on their way too." She told me, and I breathed a sigh of relief. I wasn't comfortable with the thought that Jake might be the only human out there by now, and was scared that he would accidentally get hurt by one of the boys.

"Well, no use worrying about it now," I said in an attempt to sound carefree, more for Sarah's benefit than anyone else's. "We just have to wait it out, I'm sure your dad will be back soon with news."

When it got to almost midnight and we hadn't heard a thing except for a few distant howls, I decided I had waited long enough. Sarah was asleep on the couch and I had told Charlie and Sue to go to bed, although I'm sure they hadn't gone to sleep. I left a note in case Sarah woke up while I was gone, and headed out the back door towards the forest.

The forest had never been my favourite place, in fact being so close to the trees had creeped me out when I used to visit Charlie. Whenever I looked out of my bedroom window at night and saw nothing but the black expanse of woodland out there, or whenever I heard the sound of an animal in the middle of the night, I became more fearful of the unknown. I ended up sleeping with my window closed even in the summer, afraid of what creatures may be occupying the forest. How ironic that all those years later, I found out exactly what was lurking out there. I was right to have been afraid.

Now though I stepped right into the treeline without hesitation, listening out for any sign of the boys. The night was unnaturally still and silent, which made me think that the gang weren't that far away and had scared off the other wildlife. I didn't want to go too deep into the trees alone though; I had a poor sense of direction at the best of times and the last thing Jake needed right now was to have to search the forest for me.

"Jake?" I called out hopefully, but not too loud. I was pretty sure there wouldn't be any vampires near me, as Sammy and Josh would've sensed their proximity. Feeling a little braver, I called out again. "Jacob?"

There was a rustling in the branches quite a bit away, which slowly got closer as I stood and waited. Twenty years ago I wouldn't have been anywhere near the forest, but Jake had given me more confidence. I knew he would always save me.

Finally the rustling was accompanied by loud twig snapping, and Jake appeared before me in the trees. It was so dark that I could only just make out his silhouette in the moonlight, but I knew it was my Jake. After twenty years I knew him so well, there was no doubting it.

"Hey Bells." He said quietly, wrapping his arms around me.

"You okay?" I asked, hugging him back tightly.

"Yeah, ready for bed to be honest!"

"The boys okay?"

"You know us Black men Bells, nothing fazes us!" he laughed, and I was relieved to find no sign of anxiety in his voice. "They're doing good, great actually; they can already phase at will. It's amazing how much control they've got; I think it helps that they've got each other. They love being able to read each other's mind."

"It helps that they've got such level-headed folks!" Paul's voice interrupted from somewhere to our right, making me jump. I hadn't heard any sign of his approach; either Paul still had more of his wolf abilities than Jake, or Jake had just made a lot of noise for my benefit. I guessed it was probably more of the latter. "They're fine though Shortie, should be back home with you tomorrow."

I let out another big sigh of relief, glad my sons hadn't taken the news badly. "What about all that Edward said though?" I asked, and there was quite a stretch of uncomfortable silence before I got a response.

"We're going to call a meeting with their leader tomorrow." Jake told me, and I could sense the tension rippling through him now.

"It'll be just like old times." Paul added, trying to interject a little humour.

"But you think what he said is true?" I asked, not really wanting to hear this answer.

"Billy seems to think there's some truth to it." Jake told me wearily. "He's heard stories about a 'vampire government' before."

"So our boys are going to have to fight?"

"I don't know Bells. Let's wait to see what creepy Cullen says tomorrow."


	41. The Final Battle

This is the final chapter for Time Makes all the Difference! Thank you to everyone for being so patient; I know these final chapters were a long time coming. And thanks for all the reviews; I really appreciate any feedback!

**CHAPTER FORTY ONE**

**Bella POV**

The meeting between the old/new pack and the vampires gave us no good news. Carlisle Cullen confirmed everything that Edward had said; a vampire army _was_ heading to Forks because of the wolves. The boys therefore had three options: join them in Italy as their protectors; be killed; or fight.

The boys were relishing the opportunity to fight 'real-life bloodsuckers', but me and the other mums were all understandably terrified at the thought. The pack was now eight strong; the Cullens' proximity had once again triggered the Quileute boys' internal instinct to phase, and all of our sons were now protectors of the tribe. Jake and the others had been determined to try and phase to help in the fight but Alice, the psychic vampire, had managed to persuade them not to. She had given us details of the future she had seen; all of us had been waiting at the treaty line but the older generation were all still human. She couldn't tell us the outcome of the battle because she hadn't seen it, which meant that whatever Carlisle said to the Volturi beforehand would determine the result.

The four weeks we had been given passed by in a blur of combat training, and before any of us were fully prepared we were standing in the clearing that represented the ancient treaty line, awaiting the arrival of the Volturi. As I stood there with everyone I loved, it occurred to me that this could be the last time we all saw each other. We had all been so busy over the past month that I hadn't actually given much thought to this day, but now that the time had arrived I couldn't think of anything else.

I looked over to my boys; two huge, identical, russet wolves. Surely this couldn't be the last time I would see my babies? It just wouldn't be fair if I didn't get another opportunity to appreciate their beauty, and how much they reminded me of their father.

I glanced at my little Sarah, who was standing beside me and clutching my hand tightly. Only, she wasn't so little anymore. She was just as tall as me now, maybe even an inch taller. Her perfect dark skin was exactly the shade of Jake's, but her eyes and hair had definitely been selected from my gene pool. Her wide chocolate brown eyes looked into mine for a moment exposing her fear. I offered her a tight smile, and she squeezed my hand in response. What kind of a cruel world would cut off my amazing girl in the prime of her life? She had so much to look forward to; the promise of a happy life with Sammy, just like the life Jake and I had been given.

Jake. My Jacob.

He was holding Sarah's other hand, and I found myself craving his touch. We had been happily married for almost 20 years; who should have the right to take that milestone away from us? Our friends were already planning the party! I imagined it as I studied his face for what might have been the last time. It would undoubtedly involve a huge bonfire on the beach with enough food to feed a small country, and enough of Quil Senior's moonshine to make even the wolves tipsy. It was our tradition, and had been the pack tradition before I had even moved to Forks.

What a good decision that had been. The loss of Renee still caused me pain, but I couldn't regret my decision to come and live with Charlie. No matter where we were at the end of today, I had no regrets. I lost my Mum, but I rediscovered the bond with my Dad and we were closer than ever. I had found my soul mate, had three beautiful children, and had been able to run a successful business while putting my culinary degree to good use.

No matter what happened, I couldn't deny that I had had a good life. I wasn't particularly rich, and I wasn't famous. But I had spent my life surrounded by people I loved, and no one could take that away from me. Not even the oldest vampires in the world. If they wanted to take my world away from me, they were going to have a big fight on their hands.

Just then something invisible seemed to happen around me, and I could've sworn the temperature dropped a few degrees. Something shifted ahead, and the wolves began to growl. A second later the men all stood up straighter, obviously seeing something I was too human to make out. Another few seconds passed before I could see it too; about 20 figures had entered the clearing. Pale, cold, and no doubt red-eyed.

There was suddenly so much that I wanted to say to everyone, but the opportunity was gone. Instead I gave Sarah's hand a squeeze, and exchanged a quick look with Jake. He'd know what I wanted to say, just as I knew what he was trying to tell me.

_I love you._

**Jake POV**

It was killing me that I couldn't comfort Bells, but I needed to concentrate. If we were going to intimidate this creep, we needed to show that we were united and focused. I quickly glanced amongst the ranks; us mere mortals were at the back of the pack, protected by the wolves. The boys. My sons. Not even old enough to look after themselves a few weeks ago, yet here they were protecting our whole tribe. A surge of pride burst through me, masking some of the dread that had seized my heart since the moment I saw Edward Cullen outside Charlie's house.

The Cullens were at the front of the group, and I could already see that their presence had shocked the group of bloodsuckers that were making their way across the clearing. They came to a stop about 100m away from us, and there was a long silence. I think they were sizing us up; seeing if they would be able to take us if we attacked. Carlisle had told us that some of the 'guard' had special abilities, but the wolf inside me was sure we could beat them.

Finally Carlisle stepped forwards a few metres, and started off the show.

"Aro. It has been a long time, old friend."

"Carlisle. Indeed it has. I did not expect to see you here; this is no concern of yours." The creepiest looking leech spoke from the middle of the group. He had long black hair, and I could see how red his eyes were even from this distance. Scum.

"Alice saw what you had planned during one of her visions. I thought I should come along and advise you against what you are about to do."

"So you and your clan side with the werewolves, Carlisle?"

"They are not werewolves, as I am sure you're already aware. They are shape shifters, created to protect their tribe from our… species."

"How strange then that they should join forces with you to conspire against us. What do you gain from this, Carlisle? Do you wish to seize control of the Volturi? Do you plan to overthrow us?"

"No of course not, Aro. I have merely come here today to try and prevent the spill of innocent blood."

"You expect me to believe this story do you? Without proof…"

Carlisle turned around then to face his 'family', and after a second Edward and the big one stepped forward to join their leader. The three of them crossed the distance to Aro, and Carlisle held his hand out to him. They looked like they were shaking hands for a moment, but then Aro released him and I remembered what we had been told about his special ability.

"Very well, I see you mean me no harm. Unless I intend to harm anyone here. Which brings me to the reason we travelled all this way; the werewolves." There was a rumble of growls from the boys, but they didn't seem to faze him. "I have seen that you already know of our offer. So, what will it be? Will you join my guard, or will you sentence your people to their deaths?"

There was a much louder growl then, and the boys started snapping and baring their teeth at the evil leeches. I wished for a second that I still had that power; when you are a wolf you feel invincible. Instead here I was, trying to think of a way to outrun the vampires with my wife and my little princess. Could it be done?

"But Aro, you fail to realise that the wolves are under no obligation to follow your orders. They were created with one purpose; to kill vampires. There are no specifications for that; the only reason we can live in harmony is because of our lifestyle. Any vampires who drink human blood are effectively the wolves' prey." Carlisle told the leader. He didn't look happy with the information, which I hoped meant good news for us.

"You," he suddenly said, pointing a pale finger at CJ. "What would you do if we were to take you to Volterra with us?"

There was a long stream of growling from CJ which the other wolves appeared to agree with, and then I almost laughed out loud as Will and CJ bumped heads in a wolfy high five.

I could imagine what CJ's response had been, but I didn't need to for long as Edward offered to translate for him. "He says he would take out as many… vampires… as he could before they got him." I couldn't hide my smirk this time; that was exactly what my answer would've been, minus a few expletives of course. I risked a quick glance at Bells, who was watching our boys with a proud smile. Aro seemed to ponder his answer for a long time before responding.

"And if I were to kill every member of your tribe?"

My stomach dropped as we all stood and listened to the growling response, quickly translated by Edward.

"No matter who you kill, we will still never work for you. But if you touch one person here, we will kill all of you."

The vamps surrounding Aro all started to look a little worried then, and I saw a couple even take a few strides away from us. Aro remained motionless, staring at CJ who was growling ominously.

"Maybe I will call your bluff."

Suddenly the little psychic Cullen skipped forward, a big grin on her face. "If you would like Aro, I can show you what will happen if you start this war. I assure you, it does not bode well for you in particular." She skipped over to him, holding her hand out, and he actually hesitated to take it this time. He shoved her away after a couple of seconds, looking even paler than before if that were possible.

"Very well, I can see that you cannot be convinced to join me, even though I intend to put your abilities to good use. I will have to find some other… _species_ to join my guard."

"Yeah, you will." I growled, surprising even myself with how animalistic I sounded. "Find some other dogs to do your dirty work!"

To my absolute relief the Volturi started to disappear back into the trees, and our group erupted into a loud chorus of cheers and growls. It seemed that only Bells had still got some sense.

"Wait! Alice, what do you see? Are they going to come back?"

The little vamp's eyes went unfocused for a few seconds, then she smiled. "Nope, they've well and truly been scared off!"

"What if Aro changes his mind though, the future will change won't it?"

"Don't worry Bella. As long as your descendants are on this planet, I will keep a check on Aro's decisions."

"That's good enough for me!" I yelled, picking Bells up and spinning her round while she laughed happily.

That night we had to celebrate, which obviously meant a pack bonfire on the beach. It was the best night I had had in a long time; everyone was so carefree and blissfully happy, and we were all so appreciative of how lucky we had been. Sarah wanted to sneak off with Sammy but Bells was the strict parent this time, not wanting to let any of our kids out of her sight. For once Sarah didn't argue and she seemed happy to spend time with her folks and her annoying little brothers. As I sat by the fire with Bells on my knee, I said a silent thank you to my descendants who had started off this whole wolf business. Sitting there with my family, I truly appreciated what being a part of the pack had done for me. Bells, my kids, my friends; we were all so close because of the bond we shared. I had always resented the 'gift' I had been given, especially as a teenager, but now I realised I wouldn't have changed a thing.

Sure, life would've been much easier without the bloodsuckers.

But it wouldn't have been half as fun.


End file.
